An Unbreakable Bond Intensifies
by Chickie.Babe1
Summary: 4th in the Series - Despite being awoken by weird dreams, Alicia Evans tries to enjoy her fourth year at Hogwarts. But the Triwizard Tournament turns out to be more stressful than enjoyable when Harry's name comes out of the Goblet of Fire. Add on a new development suddenly occurring to her and the year causes more trouble than she'd first expected.
1. Chapter 1

**Seeing as I've taken a while to do the fifth book, in fact I hardly touched it for a while if I'm honest. Other things and stories and what not got in the way, so here's this as an apology.**

 **Now this first chapter I haven't changed at all from the book except the end.**

 **You all know I don't own any of J.K Rowling's stuff.**

* * *

Chapter 1:

The house was dark and seemingly empty. Nothing moved around the outside and nothing moved within, not a mouse scurried or even a wind blew. It gave the house a very eery look, one which prompted kids to explore the building, despite it being privet property.

It was on one of these nights that the grounds keeper, Frank, noticed lights glimmering through the windows of the old Riddle House. Having felt with these boys many times before, Frank already knew what was happening, another dare which lead to breaking and entering.

Not only did Frank not own a telephone, but he mistrusted the police, and so, instead of calling for help, he hurried up the stairs to his room, got dressed and removed an old rusty key from its hook by the door. Grabbing his walking stick, Frank left his cottage and set off into the night across the grounds.

No body lived in the Riddle house, and hadn't done for some time, but the current owner still paid Frank to keep the garden's clean. Because of this the door in which Frank moved towards was almost completely hidden by ivory. The rest of the house seemed just as untouched, the front door not seeming to have been forced open and not a single window was broken.

Frank opened the ivory covered door noiselessly with the old key and entered the large house straight into the kitchen. Frank had not entered it for many years; nevertheless, although it was very dark, he remembered where the door into the hall was, and he groped his way toward it, his nostrils full of the smell of decay, ears pricked for any sound of footsteps or voices from overhead. He reached the hall, which was a little lighter owing to the large mullioned windows on either side of the front door, and started to climb the stairs, blessing the dust that lay thick upon the stone, because it muffled the sound of his feet and stick.

On the landing, Frank turned right, and saw at once where the intruders were: At the very end of the passage a door stood ajar, and a flickering light shone through the gap, casting a long sliver of gold across the black floor. Frank edged closer and closer, grasping his walking stick firmly. Several feet from the entrance, he was able to see a narrow slice of the room beyond.

The fire, he now saw, had been lit in the grate. This surprised him. Then he stopped moving and listened intently, for a man's voice spoke within the room; it sounded timid and fearful.

"There is a little more in the bottle, My Lord, if you are still hungry."

"Later," said a second voice. This too belonged to a man — but it was strangely high-pitched, and cold as a sudden blast of icy wind. Something about that voice made the sparse hairs on the back of Frank's neck stand up. "Move me closer to the fire, Wormtail."

Frank turned his right ear toward the door, the better to hear. There came the clink of a bottle being put down upon some hard surface, and then the dull scraping noise of a heavy chair being dragged across the floor. Frank caught a glimpse of a small man, his back to the door, pushing the chair into place. He was wearing a long black cloak, and there was a bald patch at the back of his head. Then he went out of sight again.

"Where is Nagini?" said the cold voice.

"I — I don't know, My Lord," said the first voice nervously. "She set out to explore the house, I think…"

"You will milk her before we retire, Wormtail," said the second voice. "I will need feeding in the night. The journey has tired me greatly."

Brow furrowed, Frank inclined his good ear still closer to the door, listening very hard. There was a pause, and then the man called Wormtail spoke again.

"My Lord, may I ask how long we are going to stay here?"

"A week," said the cold voice. "Perhaps longer. The place is moderately comfortable, and the plan cannot proceed yet. It would be foolish to act before the Quidditch World Cup is over."

Frank inserted a gnarled finger into his ear and rotated it. Owing, no doubt, to a buildup of earwax, he had heard the word "Quidditch," which was not a word at all.

"The — the Quidditch World Cup, My Lord?" said Wormtail.

(Frank dug his finger still more vigorously into his ear.) "Forgive me, but — I do not understand — why should we wait until the World Cup is over?"

"Because, fool, at this very moment wizards are pouring into the country from all over the world, and every meddler from the Ministry of Magic will be on duty, on the watch for signs of unusual activity, checking and double-checking identities. They will be obsessed with security, lest the Muggles notice anything. So we wait."

Frank stopped trying to clear out his ear. He had distinctly heard the words "Ministry of Magic," "wizards," and "Muggles." Plainly, each of these expressions meant something secret, and Frank could think of only two sorts of people who would speak in code: spies and criminals. Frank tightened his hold on his walking stick once more, and listened more closely still.

"Your Lordship is still determined, then?" Wormtail said quietly.

"Certainly I am determined, Wormtail." There was a note of menace in the cold voice now.

A slight pause followed — and then Wormtail spoke, the words tumbling from him in a rush, as though he was forcing himself to say this before he lost his nerve.

"It could be done without Harry Potter, My Lord."

Another pause, more protracted, and then —

"Without Harry Potter?" breathed the second voice softly. "I see…"

"My Lord, I do not say this out of concern for the boy!" said Wormtail, his voice rising squeakily. "The boy is nothing to me, nothing at all! It is merely that if we were to use another witch or wizard — any wizard — the thing could be done so much more quickly! If you allowed me to leave you for a short while — you know that I can disguise myself most effectively — I could be back here in as little as two days with a suitable person —"

"I could use another wizard," said the cold voice softly, "that is true…"

"My Lord, it makes sense," said Wormtail, sounding thoroughly relieved now. "Laying hands on Harry Potter would be so difficult, he is so well protected —"

"And so you volunteer to go and fetch me a substitute? I wonder… perhaps the task of nursing me has become wearisome for you, Wormtail? Could this suggestion of abandoning the plan be nothing more than an attempt to desert me?"

"My Lord! I — I have no wish to leave you, none at all —"

"Do not lie to me!" hissed the second voice. "I can always tell, Wormtail! You are regretting that you ever returned to me. I revolt you. I see you flinch when you look at me, feel you shudder when you touch me…"

"No! My devotion to Your Lordship —"

"Your devotion is nothing more than cowardice. You would not be here if you had anywhere else to go. How am I to survive without you, when I need feeding every few hours? Who is to milk Nagini?"

"But you seem so much stronger, My Lord —"

"Liar," breathed the second voice. "I am no stronger, and a few days alone would be enough to rob me of the little health I have regained under your clumsy care. _Silence_!"

Wormtail, who had been sputtering incoherently, fell silent at once.

For a few seconds, Frank could hear nothing but the fire crackling. Then the second man spoke once more, in a whisper that was almost a hiss.

"I have my reasons for using the boy, as I have already explained to you, and I will use no other. I have waited thirteen years. A few more months will make no difference. As for the protection surrounding the boy, I believe my plan will be effective. All that is needed is a little courage from you, Wormtail — courage you will find, unless you wish to feel the full extent of Lord Voldemort's wrath —"

"My Lord, I must speak!" said Wormtail, panic in his voice now. "All through our journey I have gone over the plan in my head — My Lord, Bertha Jorkins's disappearance will not go unnoticed for long, and if we proceed, if I murder —"

"If?" whispered the second voice. " _If_? If you follow the plan, Wormtail, the Ministry need never know that anyone else has died. You will do it quietly and without fuss; I only wish that I could do it myself, but in my present condition… Come, Wormtail, one more death and our path to Harry Potter is clear. I am not asking you to do it alone. By that time, my _faithful_ servant will have rejoined us —"

" _I_ am a faithful servant," said Wormtail, the merest trace of sullenness in his voice.

"Wormtail, I need somebody with brains, somebody whose loyalty has never wavered, and you, unfortunately, fulfil neither requirement."

"I found you," said Wormtail, and there was definitely a sulky edge to his voice now. "I was the one who found you. I brought you Bertha Jorkins."

"That is true," said the second man, sounding amused. "A stroke of brilliance I would not have thought possible from you, Wormtail — though, if truth be told, you were not aware how useful she would be when you caught her, were you?"

"I — I thought she might be useful, My Lord —"

"Liar," said the second voice again, the cruel amusement more pronounced than ever. "However, I do not deny that her information was invaluable. Without it, I could never have formed our plan, and for that, you will have your reward, Wormtail. I will allow you to perform an essential task for me, one that many of my followers would give their right hands to perform…"

"R-really, My Lord? What — ?" Wormtail sounded terrified again.

"Ah, Wormtail, you don't want me to spoil the surprise? Your part will come at the very end… but I promise you, you will have the honour of being just as useful as Bertha Jorkins."

"You… you…" Wormtail's voice suddenly sounded hoarse, as though his mouth had gone very dry. "You… are going… to kill me too?"

"Wormtail, Wormtail," said the cold voice silkily, "why would I kill you? I killed Bertha because I had to. She was fit for nothing after my questioning, quite useless. In any case, awkward questions would have been asked if she had gone back to the Ministry with the news that she had met you on her holidays. Wizards who are supposed to be dead would do well not to run into Ministry of Magic witches at wayside inns…"

Wormtail muttered something so quietly that Frank could not hear it, but it made the second man laugh — an entirely mirthless laugh, cold as his speech.

" _We could have modified her memory_? But Memory Charms can be broken by a powerful wizard, as I proved when I questioned her. It would be an insult to her _memory_ not to use the information I extracted from her, Wormtail."

Out in the corridor, Frank suddenly became aware that the hand gripping his walking stick was slippery with sweat. The man with the cold voice had killed a woman. He was talking about it without any kind of remorse — with _amusement._ He was dangerous — a madman. And he was planning more murders — this boy, Harry Potter, whoever he was — was in danger —

Frank knew what he must do. Now, if ever, was the time to go to the police. He would creep out of the house and head straight for the telephone box in the village… but the cold voice was speaking again, and Frank remained where he was, frozen to the spot, listening with all his might.

"One more murder… my faithful servant at Hogwarts… Harry Potter is as good as mine, Wormtail. It is decided. There will be no more argument. But quiet… I think I hear Nagini…"

And the second man's voice changed. He started making noises such as Frank had never heard before; he was hissing and spitting without drawing breath. Frank thought he must be having some sort of fit or seizure.

And then Frank heard movement behind him in the dark passageway. He turned to look, and found himself paralysed with fright.

Something was slithering toward him along the dark corridor floor, and as it drew nearer to the sliver of firelight, he realised with a thrill of terror that it was a gigantic snake, at least twelve feet long. Horrified, transfixed, Frank stared as its undulating body cut a wide, curving track through the thick dust on the floor, coming closer and closer — What was he to do? The only means of escape was into the room where two men sat plotting murder, yet if he stayed where he was the snake would surely kill him —

But before he had made his decision, the snake was level with him, and then, incredibly, miraculously, it was passing; it was following the spitting, hissing noises made by the cold voice beyond the door, and in seconds, the tip of its diamond-patterned tail had vanished through the gap.

There was sweat on Frank's forehead now, and the hand on the walking stick was trembling. Inside the room, the cold voice was continuing to hiss, and Frank was visited by a strange idea, an impossible idea… _This man could talk to snakes._

Frank didn't understand what was going on. He wanted more than anything to be back in his bed with his hot-water bottle. The problem was that his legs didn't seem to want to move. As he stood there shaking and trying to master himself, the cold voice switched abruptly to English again.

"Nagini has interesting news, Wormtail," it said.

"In-indeed, My Lord?" said Wormtail.

"Indeed, yes," said the voice. "According to Nagini, there is an old Muggle standing right outside this room, listening to every word we say."

Frank didn't have a chance to hide himself. There were footsteps, and then the door of the room was flung wide open.

A short, balding man with greying hair, a pointed nose, and small, watery eyes stood before Frank, a mixture of fear and alarm in his face.

"Invite him inside, Wormtail. Where are your manners?"

The cold voice was coming from the ancient armchair before the fire, but Frank couldn't see the speaker. The snake, on the other hand, was curled up on the rotting hearth rug, like some horrible travesty of a pet dog.

Wormtail beckoned Frank into the room. Though still deeply shaken, Frank took a firmer grip upon his walking stick and limped over the threshold.

The fire was the only source of light in the room; it cast long, spidery shadows upon the walls. Frank stared at the back of the armchair; the man inside it seemed to be even smaller than his servant, for Frank couldn't even see the back of his head.

"You heard everything, Muggle?" said the cold voice.

"What's that you're calling me?" said Frank defiantly, for now that he was inside the room, now that the time had come for some sort of action, he felt braver; it had always been so in the war.

"I am calling you a Muggle," said the voice coolly. "It means that you are not a wizard."

"I don't know what you mean by wizard," said Frank, his voice growing steadier. "All I know is I've heard enough to interest the police tonight, I have. You've done murder and you're planning more! And I'll tell you this too," he added, on a sudden inspiration, "my wife knows I'm up here, and if I don't come back —"

"You have no wife," said the cold voice, very quietly. "Nobody knows you are here. You told nobody that you were coming. Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, Muggle, for he knows… he always knows…"

"Is that right?" said Frank roughly. "Lord, is it? Well, I don't think much of your manners, _My Lord._ Turn 'round and face me like a man, why don't you?"

"But I am not a man, Muggle," said the cold voice, barely audible now over the crackling of the flames. "I am much, much more than a man. However… why not? I will face you… Wormtail, come turn my chair around."

The servant gave a whimper.

"You heard me, Wormtail."

Slowly, with his face screwed up, as though he would rather have done anything than approach his master and the hearth rug where the snake lay, the small man walked forward and began to turn the chair. The snake lifted its ugly triangular head and hissed slightly as the legs of the chair snagged on its rug.

And then the chair was facing Frank, and he saw what was sitting in it. His walking stick fell to the floor with a clatter. He opened his mouth and let out a scream. He was screaming so loudly that he never heard the words the thing in the chair spoke as it raised a wand. There was a flash of green light, a rushing sound, and Frank Bryce crumpled. He was dead before he hit the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Alicia stared at the celling, her hand on her neck as she bit her lip. A stinging burn was shooting through her neck. The covers had been kicked off her and the window was steamed up a little bit. As she tried to gather her rapid breathing under control and lower her speeding heart Alicia stood up from her sheets. Moving to the window she opened it and immediately the cold wind brought goose bumps to her skin. She leaned on the window and rubbed her neck, just visible through her fingers was a cross shaped scar against her skin.

The dream had awoken Alicia, three people involved, two she knew, one stranger. And let's not forget the giant snake. Alicia rubbed her face before reaching for a glass of water sitting beside her bed, downing the contents. Images of the dream flashed through her mind over and over again, like an out-of-control projector.

She rubbed her neck again before she sighed. A small hoot brought her from her thoughts and she turned to see a black owl, a few white spots over it's back and bright green eyes that matched Alicia's own staring back at her. Alicia smiled at the bird and moved over to it, stroking the feathers as it sat happily in the open cage.

"I'm alright." she whispered ever so quietly, breaking the deafening silence. Saying it out loud however made it seem less so and Alicia looked around her room as if to check for something that was out of place. Her desk had several rolls of parchment on it, a quil and a bottle of ink. Also accompanied by a few letters. A trunk sat against the wall in her room, filled with a large mound of spell books, a cauldron, a broomstick, black robes and other objects. The large owl's cage sat on a shelf by the, usually, always open window and a paper, the front page picture moving along the paper within it's frame, sat on her bedside table.

It may have looked unusual to most people, but to Alicia nothing was missing and nothing was out of the ordinary.

The dream flashed her mind again and Alicia casually scratched the scar, now throbbing a little. The pain didn't bother her, Alicia had been through enough that she'd gotten used to pain. She was a bit of a trouble magnet, her and her friends at least. Pain found her rather easily because of that. It was one of the prices that seemed to come with being Harry Potter's sister. Of course the world all thought she was dead.

Harry had the same appearance as Alicia, jet black hair and green eyes, however Harry's hair was untameable and he wore round glasses. His lightning shaped scar was famous while Alicia, was a myth, as she attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry under a different name everyone believed the twin sister of Harry had been killed with their parents. A year after the twins were born, Lily and James Potter were murdered by the darkest wizard of the age. Lord Voldemort. No one knew why and no one understood how Harry, and secretly Alicia, survived and only escaped with a scar each. They were the only two to ever survive such a dark curse.

Voldemort himself however had received the rebound of the curse, and as a consequence Voldemort had been reduced to something less than man and barely alive. It was what was sitting on the chair within Alicia's dream, causing her to cringe at the memory. Voldemort had been in hiding since, though Alicia and Harry had come up against him twice since beginning at Hogwarts.

It was Harry who Alicia felt the need to tell about her dream. He was the only one. Or at least he had been for the last three years. The previous year at Hogwarts, Alicia's third year, she and Harry had discovered that an escaped prisoner from Azkaban, the most highly guarded and most terrible wizard prison, was Harry and Alicia's godfather. To put it further he had been framed and was in fact innocent. Alicia had taken part in helping to free their godfather and he was now hiding and on the run.

Alicia had sent him numerous letters, however the replies were delayed as to not provide information as to where he was hiding. Alicia's black owl was rather recognised. She could also tell him of her dream… Especially as Noel, her owl, was currently in her cage.

Alicia bit her lip before moving to her desk and sitting down. Yes writing a letter to Sirius Black was the best solution right now. She could tell Harry later at a more reasonable time. She moved some of the papers to make room and picked up the birthday cards also amongst the parchment. They were from her friends from Hogwarts. Hermione Granger, Alicia's best friend, had her neat handwriting covering one letter. Although being her best friend, Hermione wasn't one to help with Alicia's dream. Given her way Hermione would move straight to a book to find an answer as she always did.

Her other friend, Harry's best friend, Ronald Weasley would be no better. He'd just stutter and worry about the possible meaning, maybe consult his father who worked for the ministry, though as Ron put it in a rather boring department. Arthur Weasley worked in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Not only that but Alicia was expecting an owl from Ron and his family any day now, inviting her to go and visit them before school began in two weeks. Harry was to be invited as well. She didn't need them worrying about her dream while she waited or while she was there, the lot of them all giving her worried glances.

Sirius Black, her convicted, innocent godfather, of whom she'd almost had the chance to go and live with with Harry, only to have the dream snatched away, was her only option. He understood dark magic, he understood what had happened to her because of Voldemort and he might understand something about her dream.

And so, Alicia grabbed her quil, a piece of parchment and loaded the quil.

 _Dear Sirius,_

 _I woke up early this morning because my scar was hurting. Although a worry, it isn't all I wanted to tell you._

 _I had a strange dream, slightly worrying. It concerned Voldemort and Wormtail. They were in some house and being listened on by the old caretaker but that wasn't all. They were talking about some plan, a plan that involved Harry. They needed him for something and they were planning on using a 'faithful servant' of Voldemort's in order to somehow get Harry. But they weren't allowed to act before the Quidditch cup as it would be heavily guarded. Voldemort spoke about waiting a couple of months but, although just a dream, Harry would be at Hogwarts then so…_

 _I shouldn't be worried about this right? I mean it was just a dream? Although it caused my scar to hurt and… it was very rather vivid. I remember the flash of green, strong and deadly, before the caretaker was killed. There was something worse. I saw Voldemort, in his current state. The chair he was in was turned around and it was a horrific sight._

 _I don't know what to make of this… I haven't told Harry yet, one it being much to early, and two I don't want to worry him with this weird dream where his life was in danger. They also spoke about a women they killed after interrogating but…_

 _What do you think Sirius? Should I be worried? About my scar stinging or about my dream?_

 _I hope you're well, hidden, not too cramped, dark or contained and that you're enjoying your freedom. Say hello to Buckbeak, I hope he's being a good boy and send me a letter back with Noel. Looking forward to hearing from you._

 _Alicia_

 _xx_

 _And she folded up the parchment, wrote Padfoot on the front before moving over to Noel._

"I need you to take this sweetie." She said to the owl, it clicked it's beak before taking the note from Alicia's hands and then moving off to the window, soaring out into the night and disappearing.

It wasn't as dark as it had been however, the horizon was very slowly turning light blue and soon the spread of yellows and pinks would cover the sky.

Alicia sighed, there was no point in trying to go back to sleep now. So she grabbed a few things and made her way to the bathroom for a shower, being quiet and stealthy as to not wake anyone up.

The sun had only just begun to peak over the houses when she sat down at her desk, now completely dressed, and pulled a piece of parchment towards her which consisted of her handwriting and was shining in black ink.

Alicia read through the essay before she folded up the paper and put it neatly in her trunk with several others.

A sound by her window caused her to look up and see a large snowy owl on her window sill. She smiled and stood to brush her feathers.

"Hello Hedwig." she whispered as the bird nipped at her fingers in affection. "What could you be doing here?" the bird hooted slightly "Just visiting?"

Hedwig moved from the window sill to Noel's now empty cage. The snowy owl belonged to Harry, she was finally able to leave her cage after the last two summers of being locked and chained up. Though last year she was allowed lenience, this year she had no restrictions.

Harry lived with the twin's Aunt and Uncle, the Dursleys. They hated Harry and they hated his 'abnormality'. They treated him terribly, starving him, not making an effort to care for him properly as he grew up. They were trying to stamp out the magic within him that was carried through from their parents, Lily and James Potter. Lily was Aunt Petunia's sister, a muggle born meaning no one else was magic from their family.

The Dursley's however didn't have as much of a hold on Harry now as they did before he started at Hogwarts. The first lenience he got was that the Dursley's didn't know he wasn't allowed to use magic outside of school. Alicia took great pride in scaring their cousin, Dudley, a very large pig like boy, with the use of magic. Unfortunately thanks to a house elf, the Dursley's found out they weren't allowed to use magic or they'd be expelled from Hogwarts. Fortunately for Harry, another reason for scaring the Dursleys came and that was Sirius, their godfather. He was a convicted mass murderer who escaped from the highly guarded and terrible prison Azkaban which was on an island in the middle of the ocean and guarded by terrible happiness sucking, soul feeding monsters called Dementors.

Harry had forgotten to mention to the Dursleys that Sirius was in fact innocent, but only Alicia, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Dumbledore knew about that.

Thinking of Harry Alicia turned to the clock. It was just gone seven in the morning. The Dursleys would be awake and Uncle Vernon would be getting ready for work while Dudley complained about his diet he was being forced onto. Dudley's school had sent a report to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon that he weighed just short of a young killer whale. Alicia had seen him sitting on the side of the kitchen table, he took the entire side up by himself.

It wasn't pleasant to look at.

As an extension Aunt Petunia had ordered everyone else to follow the diet also, to make Dudley feel better. Alicia had lots of fun walking into the house with a chocolate bar, just to tease Dudley. The Dursley's didn't tell Alicia off, one because they didn't know she was family and two because they thought her parents would come and threaten them with their wands. None of them knew Alicia was an orphan.

Harry however wasn't following the diet, he had a heap of sugars and cakes and sweets below a loose floor board in his room in which Aunt Petunia didn't know about. Hermione, Ron's family, Hagrid the Hogwarts Gamekeeper and Alicia had all send him sweets to keep him from starving any more than usual.

Alicia heard footsteps throughout the building and decided that was a good enough cue to go downstairs and have some breakfast before, as she did most days, she headed off to the Dursleys.

She arrived in time to see the post man at number four Privet Drive's letter box.

"Good morning." she smiled, the man was chuckling at something

"Morning,"

"What's funny?" she wondered. The man held up an envelope. It was completely covered in stamps, other then a small window in which Uncle Vernon's name and the address of 4 Privet Drive Surrey which was on the front.

Alicia chuckled at the letter, Uncle Vernon wasn't going to be happy about that, it wasn't normal and so he'd surely spend the next few hours complaining about it.

"It's for this one," she pointed before moving to the front door and ringing the door bell. Uncle Vernon answered it and as usual he glared at Alicia.

"Morning Mr Dursley." she smiled "Post is here." she pointed over her shoulder before she moved past her uncle and into the house. The Dursleys were afraid of her 'parents' and so never did anything against her. Of course as they didn't have a control over her like they did over Harry, they never had much say in what she did anyway. They're tolerance for her in the house had grown rather high over the last two summers. It had also increased since Harry had informed the Dursleys about Sirius.

"Good morning Sir." Alicia glanced over her shoulder to see the Postman talking to Mr Dursley.

"Morning Harry." Alicia smiled as she walked into the kitchen and sat herself at the table. Dudley flinched away and Aunt Petunia paused in her cutting of a grapefruit.

Alicia's actions would normally be looked down upon and counted as rude. However with the Dursley's treatment of Harry over his first eleven years of life, and even now still, Alicia had come to learn that her actions were not even a quarter of their actions to him. She had been polite when first meeting them but very quickly that respect diminished.

Dudley had just goggled down a quarter of a grapefruit. Harry still had his between his fingers and Alicia assumed the quarter Dudley had just eaten, wasn't his.

The front door closed, and the sound of ripping paper came from the hall. Alicia glanced backwards at the door as Aunt Petunia set the teapot down on the table and looked curiously around to see where Uncle Vernon had got to. She didn't have to wait long to find out; after about a minute, he was back. He looked livid.

"You," he barked at Harry. "In the living room. Now." Harry grabbed Alicia and yanked her with him, causing her to almost trip out of the seat as they walked into the next room.

Vernon closed the door sharply behind both of them.

"So," he said, marching over to the fireplace and turning to face Harry, he looked angrily at Alicia who just waited. Vernon looked as though he were about to pronounce him under arrest. " _So._ "

"What's wrong?" Alicia asked. Harry glanced at her, and she could tell he half wished she wouldn't say anything. Vernon's lack of food was already pushing his temper.

As it was Uncle Vernon did ground his teeth as his face went purple.

"This just arrived," said Uncle Vernon. He brandished a piece of purple writing paper at Harry. "A letter. About you."

Alicia and Harry both shared a look. No one wrote a letter to Uncle Vernon about Harry. Hogwarts sent them to Harry directly and there was no one else other than his friends to send Harry messages, in which all those letters went straight to Harry also.

Uncle Vernon glared at Harry, then looked down at the letter and began to read aloud:

 _Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,_

 _We have never been introduced, but I am sure you have heard a great deal from Harry about my son Ron._

 _As Harry might have told you, the final of the Quidditch World Cup takes place this Monday night, and my husband, Arthur, has just managed to get prime tickets through his connections at the Department of Magical Games and Sports._

 _I do hope you will allow us to take Harry to the match, as this really is a once-in-a-lifet_ _ime opportunity; Britain hasn't hosted the cup for thirty years, and tickets are extremely hard to come by. We will also be taking Alicia, in which I believed you would like to be informed of, as I'm sure you know very much about due to the two's past. We would of course be glad to have both Alicia and Harry stay for the remainder of the summer holidays, and to see them safely onto the train back to school._

 _It would be best for Harry to send us your answer as quickly as possible in the normal way, because the Muggle postman has never delivered to our house, and I am not sure he even knows where it is._

 _Hoping to see Harry soon, Yours sincerely,_

 _Molly Weasley_

 _P.S. I do hope we've put enough stamps on._

Uncle Vernon finished reading, put his hand back into his breast pocket, and drew out something else.

"Look at this," he growled.

Alicia held in her chuckle as she saw the envelope the postman had.

"She did put enough stamps on, then," said Harry, trying to sound as though Mrs. Weasley's was a mistake anyone could make.

"Better safe than sorry." Alicia nodded in agreement. Their uncle's eyes flashed.

"The postman noticed," he said through gritted teeth. "Very interested to know where this letter came from, he was. That's why he rang the doorbell. Seemed to think it was _funny._ "

Alicia very much so wanted to comment but decided for Harry's sake she shouldn't. She looked at Harry who gave her that look that said he knew what she was thinking.

Uncle Vernon was still glaring at Harry, who tried to keep his expression neutral. He and Alicia shared a glance before they turned and looked at Vernon, holding his gaze. If neither of them didn't do or say anything stupid, Harry might just be in for the treat of a lifetime. Both waited for Uncle Vernon to say something, but he merely continued to glare. Harry decided to break the silence.

"So — can I go then?" he asked.

It was a bad idea.

A slight spasm crossed Uncle Vernon's large purple face. The moustache bristled. The decision going through Vernon's head was obvious behind the moustache. Alicia had learnt quickly of Uncle Vernon's thoughts towards Harry and she believed a furious battle was occurring between his thoughts. Two of Uncle Vernon's most fundamental instincts came into conflict. Allowing Harry to go would make Harry happy, something Uncle Vernon had struggled against for thirteen years. On the other hand, allowing Harry to disappear to the Weasleys' for the rest of the summer would get rid of him two weeks earlier than anyone could have hoped, and Uncle Vernon hated having Harry in the house. To give himself thinking time, it seemed, he looked down at Mrs. Weasley's letter again.

"Who is this woman?" he said, staring at the signature with distaste.

"Don't you remember?" Alicia wondered

"You've seen her," said Harry. "She's my friend Ron's mother, she was meeting him off the Hog — off the school train at the end of last term."

"And the term before that." Alicia muttered to cover up Harry's slip. He had almost said "Hogwarts Express," and that was a sure way to get his uncle's temper up. Nobody ever mentioned the name of Harry's school aloud in the Dursley household.

Uncle Vernon screwed up his enormous face as though trying to remember something very unpleasant.

"Dumpy sort of woman?" he growled finally. "Load of children with red hair?"

Alicia raised an annoyed eyebrow and as she glanced over the man before her and remembered the very large pig of a boy sitting in the kitchen currently.

Uncle Vernon was perusing the letter again.

"Quidditch," he muttered under his breath. " _Quidditch_ — what is this rubbish?" Alicia ground her teeth. Quidditch was a passion that both Harry and Alicia shared, probably one of the most known common interest between them. So to hear Uncle Vernon talk about the sport as such, both twins were offended deeply.

"It's not rubbish." Alicia managed to say

"It's a sport," Harry said shortly. "Played on broom —"

"All right, all right!" said Uncle Vernon loudly. Harry saw, with some satisfaction, that his uncle looked vaguely panicky. Apparently his nerves couldn't stand the sound of the word "broomsticks" in his living room. He took refuge in perusing the letter again. Harry saw his lips form the words "send us your answer… in the normal way." He scowled.

"What does she mean, 'the normal way'?" he spat.

"Normal for us," said Harry, and before his uncle could stop him, he added, "you know, owl post. That's what's normal for wizards."

"Seeing as the post man's never been there, it's the only option anyway." Alicia crossed her arms

Uncle Vernon looked as outraged as if Harry had just uttered a disgusting swear word. Shaking with anger, he shot a nervous look through the window, as though expecting to see some of the neighbours with their ears pressed against the glass.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to mention that unnaturalness under my roof?" he hissed, his face now a rich plum colour.

"Then stop asking questions." Alicia said simply, Uncle Vernon looked at her with a murderous glare. Alicia hoped she hadn't ruined Harry's chances, it seemed Vernon had a speech anyway.

"You stand there, in the clothes Petunia and I have put on your ungrateful back —"

"Only after Dudley finished with them," said Harry coldly, and indeed, he was dressed in a sweatshirt so large for him that he had had to roll back the sleeves five times so as to be able to use his hands, and which fell past the knees of his extremely baggy jeans.

"I will not be spoken to like that!" said Uncle Vernon, trembling with rage.

Alicia looked at Harry and with one look could instantly tell that Harry wasn't going to stand for this. Gone were the days when he had been forced to take every single one of the Dursleys' stupid rules. He wasn't following Dudley's diet, and he wasn't going to let Uncle Vernon stop him from going to the Quidditch World Cup, not if he could help it. Harry took a deep, steadying breath, glanced at Alicia with a slight smirk and then said, "Okay, I can't see the World Cup. Can I go now, then? Only I've got a letter to Sirius I want to finish. You know — my godfather."

"Oh I sent him one this morning too." Alicia smiled "I'll be hearing back any day to reply too."

They had done it. Harry had said the magic words. Now they watched the purple recede blotchily from Uncle Vernon's face, making it look like badly mixed black currant ice cream.

"You're — you're writing to him, are you?" said Uncle Vernon, in a would-be calm voice — but even Alicia had seen the pupils of his tiny eyes contract with sudden fear.

"Well — yeah," said Harry, casually. "It's been a while since he heard from me, and, you know, if he doesn't, he might start thinking something's wrong."

"Did you mention anything?" he asked Alicia

"No, I expected you to write your own." she shrugged casually and Harry nodded.

Both stopped there to enjoy the effect of these words. You could almost see the cogs working under Uncle Vernon's thick, dark, neatly parted hair. If he tried to stop Harry writing to Sirius, Sirius would think Harry was being mistreated. If he told Harry he couldn't go to the Quidditch World Cup, Harry would write and tell Sirius, who would _know_ Harry was being mistreated. There was only one thing for Uncle Vernon to do. The twins could see the conclusion forming in their uncle's mind as though the great moustached face were transparent. Harry tried not to smile were as Alicia already was. And then —

"Well, all right then. You can go to this ruddy… this stupid… this World Cup thing. You write and tell these — these _Weasleys_ they're to pick you up, mind. I haven't got time to go dropping you off all over the country. And you can spend the rest of the summer there. And you can tell your — your godfather… tell him… tell him you're going."

"Okay then," said Harry brightly.

"Come on! Let's go send him a letter!" Alicia grinned and moved from the room first.

Harry turned and walked toward the living room door behind her, fighting the urge to jump into the air and whoop. Alicia felt the excitement bubbling. Her going wasn't an issue and since her name had been mentioned the excitement had irrupted. Now that Harry was able to come too, go to the Weasleys', and further more, go to watch the Quidditch World Cup, she felt like a bomb was about to go off within her!

Outside in the hall they nearly ran into Dudley, who had been lurking behind the door, clearly hoping to overhear Harry being told off. He looked shocked to see the broad grin on Harry's face.

"Morning Dudley." Alicia grinned

"That was an _excellent_ breakfast, wasn't it?" said Harry. "I feel really full, don't you?"

Laughing at the astonished look on Dudley's face, Harry and Alicia took the stairs three at a time, and hurled back into his bedroom.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Alicia said over and over again. She was jumping around the room as Harry noticed Hedwig was back. She was sitting in her cage, staring at Harry with her enormous amber eyes, and clicking her beak in the way that meant she was annoyed about something.

Alicia stopped.

"What's wrong Hedwig?" she wondered.

The answer became apparent almost at once.

"OUCH!" said Harry as what appeared to be a small, grey, feathery tennis ball collided with the side of his head. Harry massaged the spot furiously as he and Alicia looked up to see what had hit him.

Alicia began to chuckle immediately as they saw a minute owl, small enough to fit into the palm of either of their hands. It was whizzing excitedly around the room like a loose firework. Harry then realised that the owl had dropped a letter at his feet. He tapped Alicia's arm as she laughed at the small owl. She looked at him as Harry bent down to pick up the letter, recognising Ron's handwriting.

"It's from Ron."

"Open it!" Alicia ordered. He did so and inside was a hastily scribbled note.

 _Harry — DAD GOT THE TICKETS — Ireland versus Bulgaria, Monday night. Mum's writing to the Muggles to ask you to stay. She's doing the same for Alicia. They might all already have the letter, I don't know how fast Muggle post is. Thought I'd send this with Pig anyway, I know you'll tell Alicia._

"Pig?" Alicia muttered. She and Harry shared a look before they looked up at the tiny owl now zooming around the light fixture on the ceiling.

"Looks nothing like one…" Harry muttered and Alicia nodded in agreement.

 _We're coming for you whether the Muggles like it or not, you can't miss the World Cup, only Mum and Dad reckon it's better if we pretend to ask their permission first._

Alicia laughed at that.

 _If they say yes, send Pig back with your answer pronto, and we'll come and get you and Alicia at five o'clock on Sunday. If they say no, send Pig back pronto and we'll come and get you and Alicia at five o'clock on Sunday anyway._

 _Hermione's arriving this afternoon. Percy's started work — the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Don't mention anything about Abroad while you're here unless you want the pants bored off you._

 _See you soon —_

 _Ron_

 _"Calm down!" Harry said as the small owl flew low over his head, twittering madly with what could only be assumed as pride at having delivered the letter to the right person._

"Come on, let's get rid of it by sending one back before Hedwig get's snappy." Alicia smiled, Harry nodded and turned back to the owl.

"Come here, I need you to take my answer back!"

The owl fluttered down on top of Hedwig's cage. Hedwig looked coldly up at it, as though daring it to try and come any closer.

Harry seized his eagle-feather quill, grabbed a fresh piece of parchment, and wrote:

 _Ron, it's all okay, the Muggles say I can come. Alicia still has to go home and see if her letter as arrived —_

Alicia stole the quil

 _But I'll be able to come anyway, so don't worry._

Harry took the quil back

 _See you five o'clock tomorrow. Can't wait._

 _Harry_

Harry folded this note up very small, and with immense difficulty, tied it to the tiny owl's leg as it hopped on the spot with excitement. The moment the note was secure, the owl was off again; it zoomed out of the window and out of sight.

Harry turned to Hedwig.

"Feeling up to a long journey?" he asked her.

Hedwig hooted in a dignified sort of a way.

"Can you take this to Sirius for me?" he said, picking up his letter. "Hang on… I just want to finish it."

He unfolded the parchment and Alicia noticed the contents, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Harry's scar was hurting?

Hastily Harry added a postscript to the letter

 _If you want to contact me,_

Alicia nudged him

 _or Alicia,_

He added.

 _We'll be at our friend Ron Weasley's for the rest of the summer. His dad's got us tickets for the Quidditch World Cup!_

The letter finished, Harry tied it to Hedwig's leg; she kept unusually still, as though determined to show him how a real post owl should behave.

"I'll be at Ron's when you get back, all right?" Harry told her.

"If you can guide Noel back too, she's already left unfortunately, that'd be wonderful." Alicia smiled at the snowy owl.

She nipped Harry's finger affectionately, hooted at Alicia, then, with a soft swooshing noise, spread her enormous wings and soared out of the open window.

Harry watched her out of sight, then crawled under his bed.

"Cake?" he offered

"Absolutely." Alicia grinned as her brother wrenched up the loose floorboard, and pulled out a large chunk of birthday cake. He gave Alicia a bit and they both sat there on the floor eating it, savouring the happiness that was flooding through them.

"This is going to be the best summer ever!" Alicia smirked and then she stopped "I need to pack!" she shoved the rest of her cake into her mouth, made sure all the evidence was gone and stood to her feet.

"I'll be around tomorrow morning with my stuff." she said grinning "See you tomorrow Harry!" and she quickly left the room, not bothering to shout to the Dursleys as she closed the door behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Mrs Weasley had indeed sent a letter to Ms Bane. Though the caretaker of the orphanage knew little of the magical world she did understand that the Quidditch World Cup was a huge opportunity, as it would have been if the orphanage was to go to a football match. Because of this Ms Bane allowed Alicia to go in a heartbeat, as she'd predicted.

Alicia was up early the next morning packing her trunk and making sure she had everything. She ate breakfast in a hurry and informed her friends she was leaving early. Her homework was folded neatly, her robes on top of them to keep them safe. Her liquids were in bags and stored within her clothes to stop things like her ink bottle from smashing. Noel's cage was clean though empty as the owl hadn't returned yet.

Alicia went through her desk, her bed, her shelf and made sure none of her magical possessions were left behind as she packed her rucksack before she was satisfied with her work, much to her friends displeasure.

When she was all ready to go Alicia heaved her things down the staircase and towards the front door. Ms Bane had offered to drive the luggage round to Privet Drive but Alicia had denied it, saying she didn't mind walking, the trunk was on wheels after all.

So Alicia set off down the road, her rucksack on her back, cage in her hand and pulling the trunk behind her. She could only grin at the thought of the Dursley's reactions when she turned up looking such a sight. The Dursleys had a thing about appearances and would shudder at the thought of anyone finding out about Harry.

Indeed Mr Dursley was not happy when Alicia turned up at the door with her trunk and more importantly the owl's cage. He grabbed her trunk and lugged it into the house as quickly as possible, glancing around the street before slamming the door behind her.

Of course Uncle Vernon turned to shout at her but after opening and closing his mouth a couple of times and pointing at her he decided to just turn and leave.

It was then that Alicia noticed he was wearing what looked like his best suit. Alicia knew better than to think this was a welcoming gesture, it was a gesture that said 'I'm better than you'.

Harry walked down the stairs and saw her, allowing her to grin slightly, but looking around the house it didn't last. The atmosphere inside number four, Privet Drive was extremely tense. The imminent arrival at their house of an assortment of wizards was making the Dursleys uptight and irritable.

"Has it been like this all morning?" Alicia muttered as they stood at the foot of the stairs

"All morning." Harry nodded. They moved to the living room and Alicia noticed Dudley seemed rather… diminished. She also noticed Dudley continuously ran his hand nervously over his backside, and walking sideways from room to room. She couldn't help but ask Harry about it.

Alicia's laugh filled the house when Harry explained how Hagrid had given Dudley a pig's tail and the Dursleys had to proceed to the hospital to get it removed before the beginning of their first year.

Reluctantly Alicia was allowed to join for Lunch. It wasn't much of a Dursley lunch though, cottage cheese and grated celery was presented. Dudley didn't complain while Aunt Petunia didn't eat anything, just chewed her tongue with her arms folded and her lips pursed.

"They'll be driving, of course?" Uncle Vernon barked across the table.

"Er," said Harry. Alicia and Harry shared a look.

They couldn't drive, Mr Weasley's car was currently running wild around the Forbidden Forest on the grounds of Hogwarts, where it had been for since the beginning of their second year at the wizardry school.

However the year after that, Mr Weasley had hired a few ministry cars in order to transport them from the Leaky Cauldron Pub to Kings Cross.

"I think so," said Harry.

Uncle Vernon snorted into his moustache.

Unable to stand Aunt Petunia peering through the curtains every second Alicia and Harry spent their time in Harry's room. They didn't leave until quarter to five and entered the living room.

Aunt Petunia was compulsively straightening cushions. Uncle Vernon was pretending to read the paper, but his tiny eyes were not moving, and Harry was sure he was really listening with all his might for the sound of an approaching car. Dudley was crammed into an armchair, his porky hands beneath him, clamped firmly around his bottom. Harry apparently couldn't stand this type atmosphere either for he dragged Alicia out and to the stairs, sitting down to wait.

"Calm down, it'll be fine." Alicia sighed as she leaned against her trunk next to the stairs. Harry nodded but his eyes stayed on his watch and Alicia noticed when his spirits began to dampen because the clock hit five, then five past, then quarter past.

Uncle Vernon, perspiring slightly in his suit, opened the front door, peered up and down the street, then withdrew his head quickly.

"They're late!" he snarled at Harry.

"I know," said Harry. "Maybe — er — the traffic's bad, or something."

Harry was starting to feel anxious himself as half past rolled in. Alicia wasn't worried, she knew the Weasley's well enough to know that they wouldn't promise something as wonderful as the World Cup and then fall back on that promise. Plus Ron's letter had been much too excited for him to have been lying. They'd be late but they would still come.

The twins could hear Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia conversing in terse mutters in the living room.

"No consideration at all."

"We might've had an engagement."

"Maybe they think they'll get invited to dinner if they're late."

"Well, they most certainly won't be," said Uncle Vernon, and Uncle Vernon's footsteps began to start pacing the living room.

"They'll take the boy and go, there'll be no hanging around. That's if they're coming at all. Probably mistaken the day. I daresay _their kind_ don't set much store by punctuality. Either that or they drive some tin-pot car that's broken d — AAAAAAAARRRRRGH!"

Alicia jumped.

From the other side of the living room door came the sounds of the three Dursleys scrambling, panic-stricken, across the room. Next moment Dudley came flying into the hall, looking terrified.

"What happened?" said Harry. "What's the matter?"

But Dudley didn't seem able to speak. Hands still clamped over his buttocks, he waddled as fast as he could into the kitchen. Harry and Alicia shared a worried look before they hurried into the living room.

Loud hangings and scrapings were coming from behind the Dursleys' boarded-up fireplace, which had a fake coal fire plugged in front of it. Alicia looked at it curiously.

"What is it?" gasped Aunt Petunia, who had backed into the wall and was staring, terrified, toward the fire. "What is it, Vernon?"

But they were left in doubt barely a second longer. Voices could be heard from inside the blocked fireplace.

"Ouch! Fred, no — go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake — tell George not to — OUCH! George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron —"

"Maybe Harry can hear us, Dad — maybe he'll be able to let us out —"

There was a loud hammering of fists on the boards behind the electric fire as Alicia bursted out laughing.

"Harry? Harry, can you hear us?"  
The Dursleys rounded on Harry like a pair of angry wolverines.

"What is this?" growled Uncle Vernon. "What's going on?"

"They — they've tried to get here by Floo powder," said Harry, fighting a mad desire to laugh like his sister. "They can travel by fire — only you've blocked the fireplace — hang on —"

He approached the fireplace and called through the boards.

"Mr. Weasley? Can you hear me?"

The hammering stopped. Somebody inside the chimney piece said, "Shh!"

"Mr. Weasley, it's Harry… the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there."

"Damn!" said Mr. Weasley's voice. "What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"

"They've got an electric fire," Harry explained.

"Really?" said Mr. Weasley's voice excitedly. "Eclectic, you say? With a _plug_? Gracious, I must see that… Let's think… ouch, Ron!"

Ron's voice now joined the others'.

"What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?"

"Oh no, Ron," came Fred's voice, very sarcastically. "No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up."

"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here," said George, whose voice sounded muffled, as though he was squashed against the wall.

"Just like a five star hotel isn't it?" Alicia laughed

"How about doing something useful and helping us get out instead of laughing, Alicia?" Fred snapped at her

"But it's much better in there than out here isn't it?" Alicia laughed and the Dursleys were staring at her with both anger and judgement.

"Boys, boys…" said Mr. Weasley vaguely. "I'm trying to think what to do… Yes… only way… Stand back, Harry, Alicia."

The twins retreated to the sofa. Uncle Vernon, however, moved forward.

"Wait a moment!" he bellowed at the fire. "What exactly are you going to —"

BANG.

The electric fire shot across the room as the boarded-up fireplace burst outward, expelling Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron in a cloud of rubble and loose chippings. Aunt Petunia shrieked and fell backward over the coffee table; Uncle Vernon caught her before she hit the floor, and gaped, speechless, at the Weasleys, all of whom had bright red hair, including Fred and George, who were identical to the last freckle.

"That's better," panted Mr. Weasley, brushing dust from his long green robes and straightening his glasses. "Ah — you must be Harry's aunt and uncle!"

Tall, thin, and balding, he moved toward Uncle Vernon, his hand outstretched, but Uncle Vernon backed away several paces, dragging Aunt Petunia. Words utterly failed Uncle Vernon. His best suit was covered in white dust, which had settled in his hair and moustache and made him look as though he had just aged thirty years.

"Er — yes — sorry about that," said Mr. Weasley, lowering his hand and looking over his shoulder at the blasted fireplace. "It's all my fault. It just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to get out at the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see — just for an afternoon, you know, so we could get Harry. Muggle fireplaces aren't supposed to be connected, strictly speaking — but I've got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me. I can put it right in a jiffy, though, don't worry. I'll light a fire to send the boys back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I Disapparate."

Alicia knew immediately that the Dursleys hadn't understood a single word of this. They were still gaping at Mr. Weasley, thunderstruck. Aunt Petunia staggered upright again and hid behind Uncle Vernon.

"Hello, Harry! Alicia!" said Mr. Weasley brightly. "Got your trunks ready?"

"It's upstairs," said Harry, grinning back.

"Mine's in the hallway." Alicia pointed over her shoulder

"We'll get them," said Fred at once. Winking at Alicia and Harry, he and George left the room. They knew where Harry's bedroom was, having once rescued him from it in the dead of night. Alicia however thought they'd just want to get a look at their cousin, they had heard a lot about Dudley from Harry and Alicia.

"Well," said Mr. Weasley, swinging his arms slightly, while he tried to find words to break the very nasty silence. "Very — erm — very nice place you've got here."

As the usually spotless living room was now covered in dust and bits of brick, this remark didn't go down too well with the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon's face purpled once more, and Aunt Petunia started chewing her tongue again. However, they seemed too scared to actually say anything.

Mr. Weasley was looking around. He loved everything to do with Muggles, he was edging closer to the television and the video recorder.

"They run off eckeltricity, do they?" he said knowledgeably. "Ah yes, I can see the plugs. I collect plugs," he added to Uncle Vernon. "And batteries. Got a very large collection of batteries. My wife thinks I'm mad, but there you are."

Uncle Vernon clearly thought Mr. Weasley was mad too. He moved ever so slightly to the right, screening Aunt Petunia from view, as though he thought Mr. Weasley might suddenly run at them and attack.

Dudley suddenly reappeared in the room and Alicia assumed it was because of the clunk caused by Harry's trunk on the stairs, obviously having scared Dudley out of the kitchen. Dudley edged along the wall, gazing at Mr. Weasley with terrified eyes, and attempted to conceal himself behind his mother and father. Unfortunately, Uncle Vernon's bulk, while sufficient to hide bony Aunt Petunia, was nowhere near enough to conceal Dudley.

"Ah, this is your cousin, is it, Harry?" said Mr. Weasley, taking another brave stab at making conversation.

"Yep," said Harry, "that's Dudley."

He and Ron exchanged glances and then quickly looked away from each other; the temptation to burst out laughing was almost overwhelming. Dudley was still clutching his bottom as though afraid it might fall off. Mr. Weasley, however, seemed genuinely concerned at Dudley's peculiar behaviour. Indeed, from the tone of his voice when he next spoke, Harry was quite sure that Mr. Weasley thought Dudley was quite as mad as the Dursleys thought _he_ was, except that Mr. Weasley felt sympathy rather than fear.

"Having a good holiday, Dudley?" he said kindly.

Dudley whimpered and Alicia smirked.

Fred and George came back into the room carrying Harry and Alicia's school trunks. Alicia watched them as they looked at her and she nodded her head, causing the twins to catch sight of her cousin Dudley. Their faces cracked into identical evil grins and Alicia raised an eyebrow at them.

"Ah, right," said Mr. Weasley. "Better get cracking then."

He pushed up the sleeves of his robes and took out his wand. Harry saw the Dursleys draw back against the wall as one.

" _Incendio_!" said Mr. Weasley, pointing his wand at the hole in the wall behind him.

Flames rose at once in the fireplace, crackling merrily as though they had been burning for hours. Mr. Weasley took a small drawstring bag from his pocket, untied it, took a pinch of the powder inside, and threw it onto the flames, which turned emerald green and roared higher than ever.

"Off you go then, Fred, you can take Alicia's trunk with you." said Mr. Weasley.

"Coming," said Fred. "Oh no — hang on —"

A bag of sweets had spilled out of Fred's pocket and the contents were now rolling in every direction — big, fat toffees in brightly coloured wrappers.

Fred scrambled around, cramming them back into his pocket, then gave the Dursleys a cheery wave. Alicia helped him heave her trunk and Noel's cage into the flames, giving him a meaningful look in which he just grinned at her. With a step forward he walked right into the fire, saying "the Burrow!" and Aunt Petunia gave a little shuddering gasp. There was a whooshing sound, and Fred vanished.

"Right then, George," said Mr. Weasley, "you and Harry's trunk."

Harry helped George carry the trunk forward into the flames and turn it onto its end so that he could hold it better. Then, with a second whoosh, George had cried "the Burrow!" and vanished too.

"Ron, you next," said Mr. Weasley.

"See you," said Ron brightly to the Dursleys. He grinned broadly at Harry, then stepped into the fire, shouted "the Burrow!" and disappeared.

Now Harry, Alicia and Mr. Weasley alone remained.

"Well… 'bye then," Harry said to the Dursleys.

They didn't say anything although Alicia hadn't expected they would as she took the first step to the fire, Harry in pursuit. Just as he reached the edge of the hearth Mr. Weasley put out a hand and held Harry back, causing Alicia to stop in confusion too. He was looking at the Dursleys in amazement.

"Harry said good-bye to you," he said. "Didn't you hear him?"

"It doesn't matter," Harry muttered to Mr. Weasley. "Honestly, I don't care."

"And neither do they." Alicia admitted

Mr. Weasley did not remove his hand from Harry's shoulder.

"You aren't going to see your nephew or niece till next summer," he said to Uncle Vernon in mild indignation. "Surely you're going to say good-bye?"

Alicia sighed and Aunt Petunia and Dudley looked at her shocked by the sudden knew relation. Uncle Vernon however seemed much to furious to have noticed. The idea of being taught consideration by a man who had just blasted away half his living room wall seemed to be causing him intense suffering. But Mr. Weasley's wand was still in his hand, and Uncle Vernon's tiny eyes darted to it once, before he said, very resentfully, "Good-bye, then."

"See you," the twins chorused before Alicia stepped into the fire first, Harry hadn't even stepped into the fire before a horrible gagging sound erupted behind him, and Aunt Petunia started to scream.

Harry wheeled around and Alicia pocked her head out of the ruined fireplace. Dudley was no longer standing behind his parents. He was kneeling beside the coffee table, and he was gagging and sputtering on a foot-long, purple, slimy thing that was protruding from his mouth. One bewildered second later, and Alicia realised that the foot-long thing was Dudley's tongue — and that a brightly coloured toffee wrapper lay on the floor before him.

Aunt Petunia hurled herself onto the ground beside Dudley, seized the end of his swollen tongue, and attempted to wrench it out of his mouth; unsurprisingly, Dudley yelled and sputtered worse than ever, trying to fight her off. Uncle Vernon was bellowing and waving his arms around, and Mr. Weasley had to shout to make himself heard.

"Not to worry, I can sort him out!" he yelled, advancing on Dudley with his wand outstretched, but Aunt Petunia screamed worse than ever and threw herself on top of Dudley, shielding him from Mr. Weasley.

"No, really!" said Mr. Weasley desperately. "It's a simple process — it was the toffee — my son Fred — real practical joker — but it's only an Engorgement Charm — at least, I think it is — please, I can correct it —"

But far from being reassured, the Dursleys became more panic-stricken; Aunt Petunia was sobbing hysterically, tugging Dudley's tongue as though determined to rip it out; Dudley appeared to be suffocating under the combined pressure of his mother and his tongue; and Uncle Vernon, who had lost control completely, seized a china figure from on top of the sideboard and threw it very hard at Mr. Weasley, who ducked, causing the ornament to shatter in the blasted fireplace.

"Now really!" said Mr. Weasley angrily, brandishing his wand. "I'm trying to _help_!"

Bellowing like a wounded hippo, Uncle Vernon snatched up another ornament.

"Harry, Alicia, go! Just go!" Mr. Weasley shouted, his wand on Uncle Vernon. "I'll sort this out!"

Harry didn't seem to want to miss out on all the fun, but Alicia grabbed him as Uncle Vernon's second ornament narrowly missed his left ear. Harry joined Alicia by stepped into the fire, both looked over their shoulders as Alicia spoked "the Burrow!"

The last either of them saw was Mr. Weasley blasting a third ornament out of Uncle Vernon's hand with his wand, Aunt Petunia screaming and lying on top of Dudley, and Dudley's tongue lolling around like a great slimy python. But next moment Harry and Alicia had begun to spin very fast, and the Dursleys' living room was whipped out of sight in a rush of emerald-green flames.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

The two spun faster and faster, fireplaces flashing past them until finally they began to slow down. As always, Harry fell forwards and flung his hands out to stop him landing face first. Alicia managed, very proudly, to stay on her feet but almost fell over Harry as she stumbled forwards. Instantly she recognised the Weasley's kitchen, George and Ron sitting at the table with two unknown red-haired people as Fred stood before them.

"Did he eat it?" said Fred excitedly, holding out a hand to pull Harry to his feet.

Alicia bursted out laughing instantly as Harry answered.

"Yeah," said Harry, straightening up. "What _was_ it?"

"Ton-Tongue Toffee," said Fred brightly. "George and I invented them, and we've been looking for someone to test them on all summer…"

Everyone else joined Alicia in her laughter.

She then turned her glance to the two people, she'd never seen them before but instantly noticed they were older than Percy. That meant they could only be the two eldest Weasleys; Bill and Charlie.

"How're you doing, Harry?" said the nearer of the two, grinning at him and holding out a large hand, which Harry shook. Alicia noticed his hands were calloused and blistered, used to roughing it out.

"You must be Alicia." he said then to her and she grinned with a nod.

"Nice to meet you Charlie." she said, taking his hand. It had to be Charlie, he who worked with dragons in Romania. Charlie was built like the twins, shorter and stockier than Percy and Ron, who were both long and lanky. He had a broad, good-natured face, which was weather-beaten and so freckly that he looked almost tanned; his arms were muscular, and one of them had a large, shiny burn on it.

Bill however was much different.

The elder Weasley got to his feet, smiling, and also shook Harry's hand, followed by Alicia's. Bill came as something of a surprise. The twins knew he worked for the wizarding bank, Gringotts, and that Bill had been Head Boy at Hogwarts. Despite this he was nothing like Percy, who had been fussy about rule-breaking and fond of bossing everyone around. Bill was — there was no other word for it — _cool._ He was tall, with long hair that he had tied back in a ponytail. He was wearing an earring with what looked like a fang dangling from it. Bill's clothes would not have looked out of place at a rock concert, except that his boots to be made, not of leather, but of dragon hide.

Before any of them could say anything else, there was a faint popping noise, and Mr. Weasley appeared out of thin air at George's shoulder. He was looking angrier than Harry had ever seen him.

Alicia rolled her lips and placed her hands behind her back as the twins glanced at her. She shrugged.

"That _wasn't funny,_ Fred!" he shouted. "What on earth did you give that Muggle boy?"

"I didn't give him anything," said Fred, with another evil grin. "I just _dropped_ it… It was his fault he went and ate it, I never told him to."

"You dropped it on purpose!" roared Mr. Weasley. "You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet —"

"How big did his tongue get?" George asked eagerly.

"It was four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!" Harry, Alicia and the Weasleys roared with laughter again.

"It _isn't funny_!" Mr. Weasley shouted. "That sort of behaviour seriously undermines wizard–Muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons —"

"We didn't give it to him because he's a Muggle!" said Fred indignantly.

"No, we gave it to him because he's a great bullying git," said George. "Isn't he, Harry?"

"Yeah, he is, Mr. Weasley," said Harry earnestly.

"He's also a wimp." Alicia added

"That's not the point!" raged Mr. Weasley. "You wait until I tell your mother —"

"Tell me what?" said a voice behind them.

Alicia's smile vanished. If there was anyone no one would mess with, it was Mrs Weasley.

Mrs. Weasley had just entered the kitchen. She was a short, plump woman with a very kind face, though her eyes were presently narrowed with suspicion.

"Oh hello, Harry, dear, Alicia, sweetie," she said, spotting them and smiling. Then her eyes snapped back to her husband. "Tell me _what,_ Arthur?"

Mr. Weasley hesitated. It didn't matter however angry he was with Fred and George, he hadn't really intended to tell Mrs. Weasley what had happened. There was a silence, while Mr. Weasley eyed his wife nervously. Then two girls appeared in the kitchen doorway behind Mrs. Weasley. One, with very bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth, was Harry's and Ron's friend, Alicia's best friend, Hermione Granger. The other, who was small and red-haired, was Ron's younger sister, Ginny. Both of them smiled at Harry, who grinned back, which made Ginny go scarlet — she had been very taken with Harry ever since his first visit to the Burrow.

"Hermione! Ginny!" Alicia grinned and ran to envelope them both in a hug. Ginny had very quickly become like a younger sister to Alicia and hugged her back just as tightly as Hermione did.

Alicia's outbreak didn't distract Mrs Weasley and Mr Weasley's face fell, obviously hoping it had.

"Tell me _what,_ Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley repeated, in a dangerous sort of voice.

"It's nothing, Molly," mumbled Mr. Weasley, "Fred and George just — but I've had words with them —"

"What have they done this time?" said Mrs. Weasley. "If it's got anything to do with Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes —"

Alicia raised an eyebrow and looked at Hermione who did not look happy.

"Why don't you show Harry where he's sleeping, Ron?" said Hermione from the doorway.

"He knows where he's sleeping," said Ron, "in my room, he slept there last —"

Alicia understood and have Ron a pointed look.

"We can all go," said Hermione pointedly.

"Oh," said Ron, catching on. "Right."

"Yeah, we'll come too," said George.

" _You stay where you are_!" snarled Mrs. Weasley.

Harry and Ron edged out of the kitchen, and they, Alicia, Hermione, and Ginny set off along the narrow hallway and up the rickety staircase that zigzagged through the house to the upper stories.

"What are Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?" Harry asked as they climbed.

Ron and Ginny both laughed, even Alicia did, although Hermione didn't.

"Mum found this stack of order forms when she was cleaning Fred and George's room," said Ron quietly. "Great long price lists for stuff they've invented. Joke stuff, you know. Fake wands and trick sweets, loads of stuff. It was brilliant, I never knew they'd been inventing all that…"

"Remember when we were hear last Harry, they wouldn't let anyone into their room?" Alicia asked

"You knew!?" Hermione asked stunned and disappointed

"Course, they showed me. I demanded they did. Though it was hardly worth much then." she grinned

"We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages, but we never thought they were actually _making_ things," said Ginny. "We thought they just liked the noise."

"Only, most of the stuff — well, all of it, really — was a bit dangerous," said Ron, "and, you know, they were planning to sell it at Hogwarts to make some money, and Mum went mad at them. Told them they weren't allowed to make any more of it, and burned all the order forms… She's furious at them anyway. They didn't get as many O.W.L.s as she expected."

O.W.L.s were Ordinary Wizarding Levels, the examinations Hogwarts students took at the age of fifteen.

"And then there was this big row," Ginny said, "because Mum wants them to go into the Ministry of Magic like Dad, and they told her all they want to do is open a joke shop."

Just then a door on the second landing opened, and a face poked out wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a very annoyed expression.

"Hi, Percy," said Harry.

"Afternoon." Alicia waved slightly

"Oh hello, Harry, Alicia," said Percy. "I was wondering who was making all the noise. I'm trying to work in here, you know — I've got a report to finish for the office — and it's rather difficult to concentrate when people keep thundering up and down the stairs."

"We're walking." Alicia said simply but Ron talked over her.

"We're not _thundering,_ " said Ron irritably. "We're walking. Sorry if we've disturbed the top-secret workings of the Ministry of Magic."

"What are you working on?" said Harry.

"A report for the Department of International Magical Cooperation," said Percy smugly. "We're trying to standardise cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin — leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a year —"

"That'll change the world, that report will," said Ron. "Front page of the _Daily Prophet,_ I expect, cauldron leaks."

Percy went slightly pink.

"You might sneer, Ron," he said heatedly, "but unless some sort of international law is imposed we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow-bottomed products that seriously endanger —"

"Yeah, yeah, all right," said Ron, and he started off upstairs again. Percy slammed his bedroom door shut. As Harry, Alicia, Hermione, and Ginny followed Ron up three more flights of stairs, shouts from the kitchen below echoed up to them. It sounded as though Mr. Weasley had told Mrs. Weasley about the toffees.

The room at the top of the house where Ron slept looked much as it had the last time that Harry and Alicia had come to stay: the same posters of Ron's favourite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons, were whirling and waving on the walls and sloping ceiling, and the fish tank on the windowsill, which had previously held frog spawn, now contained one extremely large frog. Ron's old rat, Scabbers, was here no more, but instead there was the tiny grey owl that had delivered Ron's letter to Harry in Privet Drive. It was hopping up and down in a small cage and twittering madly.

"Shut _up,_ Pig," said Ron, edging his way between two of the four beds that had been squeezed into the room. "Fred and George are in here with us, because Bill and Charlie are in their room," he told Harry. "Percy gets to keep his room all to himself because he's got to _work._ "

"And you get to share with us." Ginny smiled at Alicia who grinned.

"Er — why are you calling that owl Pig?" Harry asked Ron.

"Because he's being stupid," said Ginny. "Its proper name is Pigwidgeon."

"Yeah, and that's not a stupid name at all," said Ron sarcastically. "Ginny named him," he explained to Harry. "She reckons it's sweet. And I tried to change it, but it was too late, he won't answer to anything else. So now he's Pig. I've got to keep him up here because he annoys Errol and Hermes. He annoys me too, come to that."

"He's just got too much energy for his tiny body." Alicia chuckled.

Pigwidgeon zoomed happily around his cage, hooting shrilly. Harry knew Ron too well to take him seriously. He had moaned continuously about his old rat, Scabbers, but had been most upset when Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, appeared to have eaten him.

"Where's Crookshanks?" Harry asked Hermione now.

"Out in the garden, I expect," she said. "He likes chasing gnomes. He's never seen any before."

"What about Noel?" Ginny asked Alicia

"Uh…" Ginny didn't know about what had happened with Sirius the year before "She's delivering a letter for me." she said and turned to Harry quickly so that Ginny wouldn't ask too many questions.

"Percy's enjoying work, then?" said Harry quickly, catching on as he sat down on one of the beds and watched the Chudley Cannons zooming in and out of the posters on the ceiling.

"Enjoying it?" said Ron darkly. "I don't reckon he'd come home if Dad didn't make him. He's obsessed. Just don't get him onto the subject of his boss. _According to Mr. Crouch…_ _as I was saying to Mr. Crouch…_ _Mr. Crouch is of the opinion…_ _Mr. Crouch was telling me…_ They'll be announcing their engagement any day now."

"Have you had a good summer, Harry?" said Hermione. "Did you get our food parcels and everything?"

"Yeah, thanks a lot," said Harry. "They saved my life, those cakes."

"They were good to!" Alicia smiled

"And have either of you heard from — ?" Ron began, but at a look from both Alicia and Hermione he fell silent.

Alicia had just gotten off the topic, apparently Ron hadn't caught on like Harry had as she knew Ron had been about to ask about Sirius. Ron and Hermione had been so deeply involved in helping Sirius escape from the Ministry of Magic that they were almost as concerned about Alicia and Harry's godfather as much as they were. However, discussing him in front of Ginny was a bad idea. Nobody but themselves and Professor Dumbledore knew about how Sirius had escaped, or believed in his innocence.

"I think they've stopped arguing," said Hermione, to cover the awkward moment, because Ginny was looking curiously from Ron to Harry. "Shall we go down and help your mum with dinner?"

"Yeah, all right," said Ron. The five of them left Ron's room and went back downstairs to find Mrs. Weasley alone in the kitchen, looking extremely bad-tempered.

"We're eating out in the garden," she said when they came in. "There's just not room for twelve people in here. Could you take the plates outside, girls? Bill and Charlie are setting up the tables. Knives and forks, please, you two," she said to Ron and Harry, pointing her wand a little more vigorously than she had intended at a pile of potatoes in the sink, which shot out of their skins so fast that they ricocheted off the walls and ceiling.

"Oh for heaven's _sake,_ " she snapped, now directing her wand at a dustpan, which hopped off the sideboard and started skating across the floor, scooping up the potatoes. "Those two!" she burst out savagely, now pulling pots and pans out of a cupboard, and Alicia knew she meant Fred and George. "I don't know what's going to happen to them, I really don't. No ambition, unless you count making as much trouble as they possibly can…"

Mrs. Weasley slammed a large copper saucepan down on the kitchen table and began to wave her wand around inside it. A creamy sauce poured from the wand tip as she stirred.

"It's not as though they haven't got brains," she continued irritably, taking the saucepan over to the stove and lighting it with a further poke of her wand, "but they're wasting them, and unless they pull themselves together soon, they'll be in real trouble. I've had more owls from Hogwarts about them than the rest put together. If they carry on the way they're going, they'll end up in front of the Improper Use of Magic Office."

Mrs. Weasley jabbed her wand at the cutlery drawer, which shot open. Harry and Ron both jumped out of the way as several knives soared out of it, flew across the kitchen, and began chopping the potatoes, which had just been tipped back into the sink by the dustpan.

"I don't know where we went wrong with them," said Mrs. Weasley, putting down her wand and starting to pull out still more saucepans. "It's been the same for years, one thing after another, and they won't listen to — OH NOT _AGAIN_!"

She had picked up her wand from the table, and it had emitted a loud squeak and turned into a giant rubber mouse.

"One of their fake wands again!" she shouted. "How many times have I told them not to leave them lying around?"

She grabbed her real wand and turned around to find that the sauce on the stove was smoking.

"C'mon," Ron said hurriedly to Harry, seizing a handful of cutlery from the open drawer, "let's go and help Bill and Charlie."

Alicia hurriedly grabbed some plates with Hermione and Ginny and all of them ran from the room.

They had only gone a few paces when Hermione's bandy-legged ginger cat, Crookshanks, came pelting out of the garden, bottle-brush tail held high in the air, chasing what looked like a muddy potato on legs. Alicia recognised it instantly as a gnome. Barely ten inches high, its horny little feet pattered very fast as it sprinted across the yard and dived headlong into one of the Wellington boots that lay scattered around the door. They could hear the gnome giggling madly as Crookshanks inserted a paw into the boot, trying to reach it. Meanwhile, a very loud crashing noise was coming from the other side of the house. The source of the commotion was revealed as they entered the garden, and saw that Bill and Charlie both had their wands out, and were making two battered old tables fly high above the lawn, smashing into each other, each attempting to knock the other's out of the air. Fred and George were cheering, Ginny and Alicia began to laugh, and Hermione hovered near the hedge, apparently torn between amusement and anxiety.

Bill's table caught Charlie's with a huge bang and knocked one of its legs off. There was a clatter from overhead, and they all looked up to see Percy's head poking out of a window on the second floor.

"Will you keep it down?!" he bellowed.

"Sorry, Perce," said Bill, grinning. "How're the cauldron bottoms coming on?"

"Very badly," said Percy peevishly, and he slammed the window shut. Chuckling, Bill and Charlie directed the tables safely onto the grass, end to end, and then, with a flick of his wand, Bill reattached the table leg and conjured tablecloths from nowhere.

Alicia loved the Weasley's the more she met them all.

By seven o'clock, the two tables were groaning under dishes and dishes of Mrs. Weasley's excellent cooking, and the nine Weasleys, Harry, Alicia and Hermione were settling themselves down to eat beneath a clear, deep-blue sky.

Alicia listened intently to the conversations going around as Harry helped himself to food before she got talking with Hermione about homework. The two had a bit of a competition going on between themselves, the highest grades and most points collected. Followed by the best exam results. So far Alicia and Hermione had drawn as in their second year, exams had been cancelled. This was because Hermione had continued to study even when she was in the hospital wing for majority of the term and then ended up petrified for the near end of the year.

At the far end of the table, Percy was telling his father all about his report on cauldron bottoms.

"I've told Mr. Crouch that I'll have it ready by Tuesday," Percy was saying pompously. "That's a bit sooner than he expected it, but I like to keep on top of things. I think he'll be grateful I've done it in good time, I mean, it's extremely busy in our department just now, what with all the arrangements for the World Cup. We're just not getting the support we need from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Ludo Bagman —"

"I like Ludo," said Mr. Weasley mildly. "He was the one who got us such good tickets for the Cup. I did him a bit of a favour: His brother, Otto, got into a spot of trouble — a lawnmower with unnatural powers — I smoothed the whole thing over."

"Oh Bagman's _likable_ enough, of course," said Percy dismissively, "but how he ever got to be Head of Department… when I compare him to Mr. Crouch! I can't see Mr. Crouch losing a member of our department and not trying to find out what's happened to them. You realise Bertha Jorkins has been missing for over a month now? Went on holiday to Albania and never came back?"

Alicia dropped her fork as she heard the name and Hermione looked at her confused. Harry noticed her sudden movement also and Alicia turned her full attention to Percy and Mr Weasley, ignoring Harry's confused looks and Hermione pocking her for her attention again.

"Yes, I was asking Ludo about that," said Mr. Weasley, frowning. "He says Bertha's gotten lost plenty of times before now — though I must say, if it was someone in my department, I'd be worried…"

"Oh Bertha's _hopeless,_ all right," said Percy. "I hear she's been shunted from department to department for years, much more trouble than she's worth… but all the same, Bagman ought to be trying to find her. Mr. Crouch has been taking a personal interest, she worked in our department at one time, you know, and I think Mr. Crouch was quite fond of her — but Bagman just keeps laughing and saying she probably misread the map and ended up in Australia instead of Albania. However" — Percy heaved an impressive sigh and took a deep swig of elderflower wine — "we've got quite enough on our plates at the Department of International Magical Cooperation without trying to find members of other departments too. As you know, we've got another big event to organise right after the World Cup."

Percy cleared his throat significantly and looked down toward the end of the table where Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione were sitting. " _You_ know the one I'm talking about, Father." He raised his voice slightly. "The top-secret one."

This brought Alicia out of her thoughts. Ever since the name of Bertha Jorkins, she'd been emerged in her dream from a few nights ago.

Ron rolled his eyes and muttered to Harry, Alicia and Hermione, "He's been trying to get us to ask what that event is ever since he started work. Probably an exhibition of thick-bottomed cauldrons."

"I don't know, he might seem excited about an essay but…" Alicia looked at Percy again "This is different."

"How do you know?"

"I catch things, I know Percy's boasting techniques already." she rolled her eyes "He's got the one he brags that no one cares about and the one he hints at that he knows everyone will care about."

"I don't even know that." Ron said with his eyebrows furrowed

"You're not me." she shrugged simply.

In the middle of the table, Mrs. Weasley was arguing with Bill about his earring, which seemed to be a recent acquisition.

"… with a horrible great fang on it. Really, Bill, what do they say at the bank?"

"Mum, no one at the bank gives a damn how I dress as long as I bring home plenty of treasure," said Bill patiently.

"And your hair's getting silly, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, fingering her wand lovingly. "I wish you'd let me give it a trim…"

"I like it," said Ginny, who was sitting beside Bill. "You're so old-fashioned, Mum. Anyway, it's nowhere near as long as Professor Dumbledore's…"

Next to Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, and Charlie were all talking spiritedly about the World Cup.

"It's got to be Ireland," said Charlie thickly, through a mouthful of potato. "They flattened Peru in the semifinals."

"Bulgaria has got Viktor Krum, though," said Fred.

"Krum's one decent player, Ireland has got seven," said Charlie shortly. "I wish England had got through. That was embarrassing, that was."

"What happened?" said Harry eagerly, regretting more than ever his isolation from the wizarding world when he was stuck on Privet Drive.

"Went down to Transylvania, three hundred and ninety to ten," said Charlie gloomily.

"Ten!" Alicia couldn't help but say as she leaned forwards

"Shocking performance. And Wales lost to Uganda, and Scotland was slaughtered by Luxembourg."

Harry and Alicia were on the Gryffindor House Quidditch team, Harry ever since his first year at Hogwarts and Alicia ever since her second. Both owned one of the best racing brooms in the world, a Firebolt. Flying came more naturally to Harry than anything else in the magical world, and he played in the position of Seeker on the Gryffindor House team. Alicia however played a chaser, just adding to her good talent with spells.

Mr. Weasley conjured up candles to light the darkening garden before they had their homemade strawberry ice cream, and by the time they had finished, moths were fluttering low over the table, and the warm air was perfumed with the smells of grass and honeysuckle.

With the food in her stomach and the sun setting Alicia was more than happy to think about making

her way to bed when Ron looked carefully up the table to check that the rest of the family were all busy talking, then he said very quietly to Harry, "So — _have_ you heard from Sirius lately?"

Hermione looked around, listening closely.

"Yeah," said Harry softly, "twice. He sounds okay. I wrote to him yesterday. He might write back while I'm here."

"I've heard about three times, I also sent him a letter yesterday morning." Alicia nodded quietly "Guess both Hedwig and Noel will come back together." she said to Harry who nodded. She sighed as her dream returned and glanced at Mr Weasley, wondering if she should ask about Bertha Jorkins…

"Look at the time," Mrs. Weasley said suddenly, checking her wristwatch. "You really should be in bed, the whole lot of you — you'll be up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup. Harry, Alicia, if you leave your school list out, I'll get your things for you tomorrow in Diagon Alley. I'm getting everyone else's. There might not be time after the World Cup, the match went on for five days last time."

"Wow — hope it does this time!" said Harry enthusiastically.

"Yes please!" Alicia agreed and shared a high five with Fred who chuckled.

"Well, I certainly don't," said Percy sanctimoniously. "I _shudder_ to think what the state of my in-tray would be if I was away from work for five days."

"Yeah, someone might slip dragon dung in it again, eh, Perce?" said Fred.

"That was a sample of fertiliser from Norway!" said Percy, going very red in the face. "It was nothing _personal_!"

"It was," Fred whispered to Harry and Alicia as they got up from the table. "We sent it."

Alicia laughed.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Mrs Weasley wasn't joking when she said they'd be up at the crack of dawn. The sun had hardly risen when she bustled into Ginny's room and awoke the three girls.

"Come on girls! You need to get up. It's time to go!" and she left the room when Alicia, Hermione and Ginny were sitting up yawning.

Alicia was first out of bed before she moved to the bathroom to clean up her face and manage her black hair. Though it wasn't nearly as messy and untidy as Harry's it was some mornings a challenge.

Ginny and Hermione had more trouble getting out of bed than Alicia who got dressed quickly and went to move down to the kitchen, only to have two pairs of hands grab her and drag her into another room.

It was the twins.

"What?" she asked, only to be shushed

"Will you do us a favour?" Fred wondered

"Depends how bad it is." she admitted looking at them. They smiled at her and she raised an eyebrow.

She and the twins walked downstairs, Alicia being dressed and more appropriate by her standards, and entered the kitchen to find Mr Weasley looking at tickets and Ron and Harry standing looking very drowsy. The twins weren't much better.

"Morning." she said, though still tired, much more cheerful than anyone but Mrs Weasley and Mr Weasley.

"Why are you so cheerful?" Fred grumbled from behind her

"Not very much more than you." she sighed sitting down for some breakfast.

"Where're Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?" said George, failing to stifle a huge yawn.

"Well, they're Apparating, aren't they?" said Mrs. Weasley, heaving the large pot over to the table and starting to ladle porridge into bowls. "So they can have a bit of a lie-in."

Alicia knew that Apparating meant disappearing from one place and reappearing almost instantly in another. She had done it by holding onto the arm of one of the professors the very first time she'd gone to Diagon Alley. It was a lot like flu powder, but worse.

"So they're still in bed?" said Fred grumpily, pulling his bowl of porridge toward him. "Why can't we Apparate too?"

"Because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "And where have those girls got to?"

She bustled out of the kitchen and they heard her climbing the stairs.

"You have to pass a test to Apparate?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley, tucking the tickets safely into the back pocket of his jeans. "The Department of Magical Transportation had to fine a couple of people the other day for Apparating without a license. It's not easy, Apparition, and when it's not done properly it can lead to nasty complications. This pair I'm talking about went and splinched themselves."

Everyone around the table except Harry winced. Alicia was enough of a reader to understand as she dug into her porridge.

"Er — _splinched_?" said Harry.

"They left half of themselves behind," said Mr. Weasley, now spooning large amounts of treacle onto his porridge. "So, of course, they were stuck. Couldn't move either way. Had to wait for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to sort them out. Meant a fair old bit of paperwork, I can tell you, what with the Muggles who spotted the body parts they'd left behind…"

"Were they okay?" Harry asked, startled.

"Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley matter-of-factly. "But they got a heavy fine, and I don't think they'll be trying it again in a hurry. You don't mess around with Apparition. There are plenty of adult wizards who don't bother with it. Prefer brooms — slower, but safer."

"But Bill and Charlie and Percy can all do it?"

"Charlie had to take the test twice," said Fred, grinning. "He failed the first time, Apparated five miles south of where he meant to, right on top of some poor old dear doing her shopping, remember?"

"Yes, well, he passed the second time," said Mrs. Weasley, marching back into the kitchen amid hearty sniggers.

"Percy only passed two weeks ago," said George. "He's been Apparating downstairs every morning since, just to prove he can."

"Like you'll be any different." Alicia said before turning to Harry "Apparating is kind of like a driver's license, but worse and a lot more dangerous… possibly." Alicia said simply and the Weasley's looked confused while Harry nodded.

There were footsteps down the passageway and Hermione and Ginny came into the kitchen, both looking pale and drowsy.

"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ginny said, rubbing her eyes and sitting down at the table.

"We've got a bit of a walk," said Mr. Weasley.

"A walk?" Alicia sighed, slumping her head into her palm.

"Walk?" said Harry in agreement "What, are we walking to the World Cup?"

"No, no, that's miles away," said Mr. Weasley, smiling. "We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup —"

"George!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply, and they all jumped.

"What?" said George, in an innocent tone that deceived nobody.

"What is that in your pocket?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't you lie to me!"

Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at George's pocket and said, " _Accio_!"  
Several small, brightly coloured objects zoomed out of George's pocket; he made a grab for them but missed, and they sped right into Mrs. Weasley's outstretched hand.

"We told you to destroy them!" said Mrs. Weasley furiously, holding up what were unmistakably more Ton-Tongue Toffees. "We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets, go on, both of you!"

It was an unpleasant scene; the twins had evidently been trying to smuggle as many toffees out of the house as possible, and it was only by using her Summoning Charm that Mrs. Weasley managed to find them all.

" _Accio_! _Accio_! _Accio_!" she shouted, and toffees zoomed from all sorts of unlikely places, including the lining of George's jacket and the turn-ups of Fred's jeans.

Alicia sat watching with her spoon in her mouth, her eyes guilty but a smirk forming at the twins reactions.

"We spent six months developing those!" Fred shouted at his mother as she threw the toffees away.

"Oh a fine way to spend six months!" she shrieked. "No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.s!"

All in all, the atmosphere was not very friendly as they took their departure. Mrs. Weasley was still glowering as she kissed Mr. Weasley on the cheek, though not nearly as much as the twins, who had each hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walked out without a word to her, but not before grabbing Alicia's arm and pulling her with them.

"Bye Mrs Weasley!" she called with a wave.

"Well, have a lovely time," said Mrs. Weasley, "and _behave yourselves,_ " she called after the twins' retreating backs, but they did not look back or answer. "I'll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy along around midday," Mrs. Weasley said to Mr. Weasley, as he, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny set off across the dark yard after Alicia, Fred and George.

It was chilly and the moon was still out. Only a dull, greenish tinge along the horizon to their right showed that daybreak was drawing closer.

"You know you two were silly?" Alicia said to the twins as she walked between them

"Great acting though." George grinned

"Knew having you as our apprentice was a good idea." Fred smirked

"Apprentice?" Alicia questioned and the twins grinned. She rolled her eyes. "Do you have a plan on when to remove all these toffees from me?" she questioned "Without your dad finding out?" The twins had known Mrs Weasley would probably confiscate their toffees and so they'd hijacked Alicia to hide the majority within her own person.

"It'll be fine, we could probably do it while he's talking to someone." Fred shrugged

"So how _does_ everyone get there without all the Muggles noticing?" Alicia heard Harry ask, she ignored the twins shared look and turned her ear to listen.

"It's been a massive organisational problem," sighed Mr. Weasley. "The trouble is, about a hundred thousand wizards turn up at the World Cup, and of course, we just haven't got a magical site big enough to accommodate them all. There are places Muggles can't penetrate, but imagine trying to pack a hundred thousand wizards into Diagon Alley or platform nine and three-quarters. So we had to find a nice deserted moor, and set up as many anti-Muggle precautions as possible. The whole Ministry's been working on it for months. First, of course, we have to stagger the arrivals. People with cheaper tickets have to arrive two weeks beforehand. A limited number use Muggle transport, but we can't have too many clogging up their buses and trains — remember, wizards are coming from all over the world. Some Apparate, of course, but we have to set up safe points for them to appear, well away from Muggles. I believe there's a handy wood they're using as the Apparition point. For those who don't want to Apparate, or can't, we use Portkeys." Alicia smiled, portkeys were a smart idea. "They're objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time. You can do large groups at a time if you need to. There have been two hundred Portkeys placed at strategic points around Britain, and the nearest one to us is up at the top of Stoatshead Hill, so that's where we're headed."

Mr. Weasley pointed ahead of them, where a large black mass rose beyond the village of Ottery St. Catchpole.

"What sort of objects are Portkeys?" said Harry curiously.

"Well, they can be anything," said Mr. Weasley. "Unobtrusive things, obviously, so Muggles don't go picking them up and playing with them… stuff they'll just think is litter…"

They trudged down the dark, dank lane toward the village, the silence broken only by their footsteps. The sky lightened very slowly as they made their way through the village, its inky blackness diluting to deepest blue. Mr. Weasley kept checking his watch.

They didn't have breath to spare for talking as they began to climb Stoatshead Hill, stumbling occasionally in hidden rabbit holes, slipping on thick black tuffets of grass. Alicia was panting and the cold hit her throat like a knife before the ground finally evened out.

"Whew," panted Mr. Weasley, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his sweater. "Well, we've made good time — we've got ten minutes…"

Hermione came over the crest of the hill last, clutching a stitch in her side as Alicia stopped and panted for a minute to try and get her breath back.

"Now we just need the Portkey," said Mr. Weasley, replacing his glasses and squinting around at the ground. "It won't be big… Come on…"

They spread out, searching. They had only been at it for a couple of minutes, however, when a shout rent the still air.

"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it!"

Two tall figures were silhouetted against the starry sky on the other side of the hilltop.

"Amos!" said Mr. Weasley, smiling as he strode over to the man who had shouted. The rest of them followed.

Mr. Weasley was shaking hands with a ruddy-faced wizard with a scrubby brown beard, who was holding a mouldy-looking old boot in his other hand.

"This is Amos Diggory, everyone," said Mr. Weasley. "He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric?"

Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen. He was Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff House Quidditch team at Hogwarts.

"Hi," said Cedric, looking around at them all.

Everybody said hi back except Fred and George, who merely nodded. Alicia nudged them for being childish, they had never quite forgiven Cedric for beating their team, Gryffindor, in the first Quidditch match of the previous year.

"Long walk, Arthur?" Cedric's father asked.

"Not too bad," said Mr. Weasley. "We live just on the other side of the village there. You?"

"Had to get up at two, didn't we, Ced? I tell you, I'll be glad when he's got his Apparition test. Still…not complaining… Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of Galleons — and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy…" Amos Diggory peered good-naturedly around at the three Weasley boys, Harry, Alicia, Hermione, and Ginny. "All these yours, Arthur?"

"Oh no, only the redheads," said Mr. Weasley, pointing out his children. "This is Hermione, friend of Ron's — and Alicia and Harry, other friends —"

"Merlin's beard," said Amos Diggory, his eyes widening. Alicia sighed. "Harry? Harry _Potter_?"

"Er — yeah," said Harry.

Harry was used to people looking curiously at him when they met him, used to the way their eyes moved at once to the lightning scar on his forehead, but it still seemed to make him feel uncomfortable.

"Ced's talked about you, of course," said Amos Diggory. "Told us all about playing against you last year… I said to him, I said — Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will… _You beat Harry Potter_!"

Harry didn't seem able to think of any reply to this, so he remained silent. Fred and George were both scowling again, both earning a nudge from Alicia. Cedric looked slightly embarrassed.

"Both Alicia and Harry fell off their brooms, Dad," he muttered. "I told you… it was an accident…"

"Yes, but _you_ didn't fall off, did you?" roared Amos genially, slapping his son on his back. "Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman… but the best man won, I'm sure Harry'd say the same, wouldn't you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don't need to be a genius to tell which one's the better flier!"

"I'd have agreed," Alicia nodded "Only we fell off because dementors appeared in the grounds." Alicia snapped. She was glad Amos was proud of his son, but he was just being rude now.

Amos looked at her surprised as she had her arms crossed and her expression now matched the twins.

"Must be nearly time," said Mr. Weasley quickly, pulling out his watch again. "Do you know whether we're waiting for any more, Amos?"

"No, the Lovegoods have been there for a week already and the Fawcetts couldn't get tickets," said Mr. Diggory. "There aren't any more of us in this area, are there?"

"Not that I know of," said Mr. Weasley. "Yes, it's a minute off… We'd better get ready…"

He looked around at Alicia, Harry and Hermione.

"You just need to touch the Portkey, that's all, a finger will do —" With difficulty, owing to their bulky backpacks, the ten of them crowded around the old boot held out by Amos Diggory. They all stood there, in a tight circle, as a chill breeze swept over the hilltop. Nobody spoke. Alicia was glancing around the hilltop, believing that a muggle would think they looked absolutely ridiculous, ten people, two of them grown men, clutching this manky old boot in the semidarkness, waiting…

"Three…" muttered Mr. Weasley, one eye still on his watch, Alicia took a deep breath, bent her knees slightly and prepared for something like the flu network. "two… one…"

It happened immediately: Alicia felt as though a hook just behind her navel had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forward. Their feet left the ground; Hermione and Harry's shoulders bashed into hers on either side of her, they were all speeding forward in a howl of wind and swirling colour; her finger was stuck to the boot as though it was pulling them magnetically onward and then — Her feet slammed into the ground; Ron staggered into Harry and he fell over; the Portkey hit the ground near his head with a heavy thud.

Alicia had stumbled, but bending her knees had been a smart idea as she was the only one other than Mr. Weasley, Mr. Diggory, and Cedric who remained standing, though looking very windswept; everybody else was on the ground.

Alicia grinned at herself, feeling a sense of achievement within herself.

"Well done Alicia." Mr Weasley smiled at her and she smiled back as she straightened up.

"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill," said a voice.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Alicia turned to see pair of tired and grumpy-looking wizards, one of whom was holding a large gold watch, the other a thick roll of parchment and a quill. Both were dressed as Muggles, though very inexpertly: The man with the watch wore a tweed suit with thigh-length galoshes; his colleague, a kilt and a poncho.

Alicia smirked, trying not to laugh and instead turned to notice they were in some sort of deserted stretch of misty moor. She held her hand out to Harry as he and Ron disentangled themselves from one another before Alicia helped her brother to his feet.

"Morning, Basil," said Mr. Weasley, picking up the boot and handing it to the kilted wizard, who threw it into a large box of used Portkeys beside him; there were things like old newspapers, empty drinks cans, and a punctured football.

"Hello there, Arthur," said Basil wearily. "Not on duty, eh? It's all right for some… We've been here all night… You'd better get out of the way, we've got a big party coming in from the Black Forest at five-fifteen. Hang on, I'll find your campsite… Weasley… Weasley…" He consulted his parchment list. "About a quarter of a mile's walk over there, first field you come to. Site manager's called Mr. Roberts. Diggory… second field… ask for Mr. Payne."

"Thanks, Basil," said Mr. Weasley, and he beckoned everyone to follow him.

They set off across the deserted moor, unable to make out much through the mist. After about twenty minutes, a small stone cottage next to a gate swam into view. Beyond it, through the mist, Alicia was able to make out the ghostly shapes of hundreds and hundreds of tents, rising up the gentle slope of a large field toward a dark wood on the horizon. They said good-bye to the Diggorys and approached the cottage door.

A man was standing in the doorway, looking out at the tents. Alicia eyed him before realising he was the only real Muggle for several acres. When he heard their footsteps, he turned his head to look at them.

"Morning!" said Mr. Weasley brightly.

"Morning," said the Muggle.

"Would you be Mr. Roberts?"

"Aye, I would," said Mr. Roberts. "And who're you?"

"Weasley — two tents, booked a couple of days ago?"

"Aye," said Mr. Roberts, consulting a list tacked to the door.

"You've got a space up by the wood there. Just the one night?"

"That's it," said Mr. Weasley.

"You'll be paying now, then?" said Mr. Roberts.

"Ah — right — certainly —" said Mr. Weasley. He retreated a short distance from the cottage and beckoned Harry toward him. "Help me, Harry," he muttered, pulling a roll of Muggle money from his pocket and starting to peel the notes apart. "This one's a — a — a ten? Ah yes, I see the little number on it now… So this is a five?"

"A twenty," Harry corrected him in an undertone, uncomfortably aware of Mr. Roberts trying to catch every word.

"Ah yes, so it is… I don't know, these little bits of paper…"

"If you're going to a thing like this it's probably better you ask before we get here Mr Weasley." Alicia smiled as she took the money from him and began to shuffle through it. She handed him what he needed.

"You foreign?" said Mr. Roberts as Mr. Weasley returned with the correct notes.

"Foreign?" repeated Mr. Weasley, puzzled.

"You're not the first one who's had trouble with money," said Mr. Roberts, scrutinising Mr. Weasley closely. "I had two try and pay me with great gold coins the size of hubcaps ten minutes ago."

"Did you really?" said Mr. Weasley nervously.

"Yes, he's foreign." Alicia said with a smile "Doesn't know english currency much." she said and Mr Weasley looked confused but Alicia gave him a look in which he just nodded.

Mr. Roberts rummaged around in a tin for some change.

"Never been this crowded," he said suddenly, looking out over the misty field again. "Hundreds of pre-bookings. People usually just turn up…"

"Is that right?" said Mr. Weasley, his hand held out for his change, but Mr. Roberts didn't give it to him.

"Aye," he said thoughtfully. "People from all over. Loads of foreigners. And not just foreigners. Weirdos, you know? There's a bloke walking 'round in a kilt and a poncho."

"Shouldn't he?" said Mr. Weasley anxiously.

"It's like some sort of… I dunno… like some sort of rally," said Mr. Roberts. "They all seem to know each other. Like a big party."

At that moment, a wizard in plus-fours appeared out of thin air next to Mr. Roberts's front door.

" _Obliviate_!" he said sharply, pointing his wand at Mr. Roberts. Instantly, Mr. Roberts's eyes slid out of focus, his brows unknitted, and a look of dreamy unconcern fell over his face. Alicia let out a breath, the symptoms of one who had just had his memory modified covering Mr Roberts expression.

"A map of the campsite for you," Mr. Roberts said placidly to Mr. Weasley. "And your change."

"Thanks very much," said Mr. Weasley.

The wizard in plus-fours accompanied them toward the gate to the campsite. He looked exhausted: His chin was blue with stubble and there were deep purple shadows under his eyes. Once out of earshot of Mr. Roberts, he muttered to Mr. Weasley, "Been having a lot of trouble with him. Needs a Memory Charm ten times a day to keep him happy. And Ludo Bagman's not helping. Trotting around talking about Bludgers and Quaffles at the top of his voice, not a worry about anti-Muggle security. Blimey, I'll be glad when this is over. See you later, Arthur."

He Disapparated.

"I thought Mr. Bagman was Head of Magical Games and Sports," said Ginny, looking surprised. "He should know better than to talk about Bludgers near Muggles, shouldn't he?"

"He should," said Mr. Weasley, smiling, and leading them through the gates into the campsite, "but Ludo's always been a bit… well… _lax_ about security. You couldn't wish for a more enthusiastic head of the sports department though. He played Quidditch for England himself, you know. And he was the best Beater the Wimbourne Wasps ever had."

They trudged up the misty field between long rows of tents. Most looked almost ordinary; their owners had clearly tried to make them as Muggle-like as possible, but had slipped up by adding chimneys, or bellpulls, or weather vanes. However, here and there was a tent so obviously magical and Alicia wasn't surprised that Mr. Roberts was getting suspicious. Halfway up the field stood an extravagant confection of striped silk like a miniature palace, with several live peacocks tethered at the entrance. A little farther on they passed a tent that had three floors and several turrets; and a short way beyond that was a tent that had a front garden attached, complete with birdbath, sundial, and fountain.

"Always the same," said Mr. Weasley, smiling. "We can't resist showing off when we get together. Ah, here we are, look, this is us." They had reached the very edge of the wood at the top of the field, and here was an empty space, with a small sign hammered into the ground that read weezly.

"Couldn't have a better spot!" said Mr. Weasley happily. "The field is just on the other side of the wood there, we're as close as we could be." He hoisted his backpack from his shoulders. "Right," he said excitedly, "no magic allowed, strictly speaking, not when we're out in these numbers on Muggle land. We'll be putting these tents up by hand! Shouldn't be too difficult… Muggles do it all the time… Here, Harry, where do you reckon we should start?"

Alicia couldn't help but laugh, she had a feeling that with the Dursley's treatment of him, Harry had never been camping before.

"Here Mr Weasley." Alicia smiled and she took the pole from him. "Lend me a hand Hermione?" she asked and the girl happily did so. Eventually Harry did too and the three of them worked out where most of the poles and pegs should go, and though Mr. Weasley was more of a hindrance than a help, because he got thoroughly overexcited when it came to using the mallet, they finally managed to erect a pair of shabby two-man tents.

All of them stood back to admire their handiwork. Nobody looking at these tents would guess they belonged to wizards. Alicia however realised a problem, looking at the two and then at the eight of them, plus Bill, Charlie, and Percy arriving later… they'd never all fit.

Harry and Hermione looked at her and she shrugged, understanding they'd noticed the same problem.

Despite this however, Mr Weasley got onto his hands and knees and entered the tent first.

"We'll be a bit cramped," he called, "but I think we'll all squeeze in. Come and have a look."

Alicia couldn't help it. She got down and followed Mr Weasley. Lifting the flap, her mouth opened before she walked into an old-fashioned, three-room flat, complete with bathroom and kitchen.

"Woah…" she breathed as she walked in and looked around.

"Well, it's not for long," said Mr. Weasley, mopping his bald patch with a handkerchief and peering in at the four bunk beds that stood in the bedroom. "I borrowed this from Perkins at the office. Doesn't camp much anymore, poor fellow, he's got lumbago." He picked up the dusty kettle and peered inside it. "We'll need water…"

"There's a tap marked on this map the Muggle gave us," said Ron, who had followed Alicia inside. She turned and noticed Harry had done so also. Unlike Harry and Alicia, Ron seemed completely unimpressed by its extraordinary inner proportions. "It's on the other side of the field."

"Well, why don't you, Harry, Alicia and Hermione go and get us some water then" — Mr. Weasley handed over the kettle and a couple of saucepans — "and the rest of us will get some wood for a fire?"

"But we've got an oven," said Ron. "Why can't we just —"

"Ron, anti-Muggle security!" said Mr. Weasley, his face shining with anticipation. "When real Muggles camp, they cook on fires outdoors. I've seen them at it!"

"Don't worry." Alicia said to Ron "He'll give up rather quickly." and she left the tent first. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny followed her out before they went into the other tent. Alicia, Hermione and Ginny were to have this one to themselves, away from the boys. It was slightly smaller then the other tent but still amazed Alicia when she walked in.

After dumping their bags in the two tents, Ginny went back to the main tent and Alicia, Harry, Ron and Hermione set off across the campsite with the kettle and saucepans.

Now, with the sun newly risen and the mist lifting, they could see the city of tents that stretched in every direction. They made their way slowly through the rows, staring eagerly around. It was only just dawning how many witches and wizards there must be in the world; Alicia had never really thought much about those in other countries, even though Hermione visited France and Ron Egypt last year.

Their fellow campers were starting to wake up. First to stir were the families with small children; Neither Alicia or Harry had never seen witches and wizards this young before. A tiny boy no older than two was crouched outside a large pyramid-shaped tent, holding a wand and poking happily at a slug in the grass, which was swelling slowly to the size of a salami. As they drew level with him, his mother came hurrying out of the tent.

" _How_ many times, Kevin? You _don't_ — _touch_ — _Daddy's_ — _wand_ — yecchh!"

She had trodden on the giant slug, which burst. Her scolding carried after them on the still air, mingling with the little boy's yells — "You bust slug! You bust slug!"

A short way farther on, they saw two little witches, barely older than Kevin, who were riding toy broomsticks that rose only high enough for the girls' toes to skim the dewy grass. A Ministry wizard had already spotted them; as he hurried past Harry, Ron, and Hermione he muttered distractedly, "In broad daylight! Parents having a lie-in, I suppose —"

Here and there adult wizards and witches were emerging from their tents and starting to cook breakfast. Some, with furtive looks around them, conjured fires with their wands; others were striking matches with dubious looks on their faces, as though sure this couldn't work. Three African wizards sat in serious conversation, all of them wearing long white robes and roasting what looked like a rabbit on a bright purple fire, while a group of middle-aged American witches sat gossiping happily beneath a spangled banner stretched between their tents that read: the salem witches' institute. Alicia could hear some snippets of conversations in different languages from the inside of tents they passed, and though she couldn't understand a word, the tone of every single voice was excited.

"Er — is it my eyes, or has everything gone green?" said Ron.

It wasn't just Ron's eyes. They had walked into a patch of tents that were all covered with a thick growth of shamrocks, so that it looked as though small, oddly shaped hillocks had sprouted out of the earth. Grinning faces could be seen under those that had their flaps open. Then, from behind them, they heard their names.

"Harry! Alicia! Ron! Hermione!"

It was Seamus Finnigan, their fellow Gryffindor fourth year. He was sitting in front of his own shamrock-covered tent, with a sandy-haired woman who had to be his mother, and his best friend, Dean Thomas, also of Gryffindor.

"Like the decorations?" said Seamus, grinning. "The Ministry's not too happy."

"I can understand." Alicia chuckled

"Ah, why shouldn't we show our colours?" said Mrs. Finnigan. "You should see what the Bulgarians have got dangling all over _their_ tents. You'll be supporting Ireland, of course?" she added, eyeing Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione beadily. When they had assured her that they were indeed supporting Ireland, they set off again, though, as Ron said, "Like we'd say anything else surrounded by that lot."

"Probably be murdered on the spot." Alicia agreed

"I wonder what the Bulgarians have got dangling all over their tents?" said Hermione.

"Let's go and have a look," said Harry, pointing to a large patch of tents upheld, where the Bulgarian flag — white, green, and red — was fluttering in the breeze.

The tents here had not been bedecked with plant life, but each and every one of them had the same poster attached to it, a poster of a very surly face with heavy black eyebrows. The picture was, of course, moving, but all it did was blink and scowl.

"Krum," said Ron quietly.

"What?" said Hermione.

"Krum!" said Ron. "Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker!"

"He looks really grumpy," said Hermione, looking around at the many Krums blinking and scowling at them.

"What a sour puss." Alicia agreed

" ' _Really grumpy_ '?" Ron raised his eyes to the heavens. "Who cares what he looks like? He's unbelievable. He's really young too. Only just eighteen or something. He's a _genius,_ you wait until tonight, you'll see."

"Just cause he's good on the pitch doesn't mean he's a genius." Alicia muttered to Hermione who nodded.

There was already a small queue for the tap in the corner of the field. Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined it, right behind a pair of men who were having a heated argument. One of them was a very old wizard who was wearing a long flowery nightgown. The other was clearly a Ministry wizard; he was holding out a pair of pinstriped trousers and almost crying with exasperation.

"Just put them on, Archie, there's a good chap. You can't walk around like that, the Muggle at the gate's already getting suspicious —"

"I bought this in a Muggle shop," said the old wizard stubbornly. "Muggles wear them."

"Muggle _women_ wear them, Archie, not the men, they wear _these,_ " said the Ministry wizard, and he brandished the pinstriped trousers.

"I'm not putting them on," said old Archie in indignation. "I like a healthy breeze 'round my privates, thanks."

Hermione was overcome with such a strong fit of the giggles at this point while Alicia had a hand over her mouth and looking anywhere else but at Archie. Hermione got so bad that she had to duck out of the queue and only returned when Archie had collected his water and moved away.

Walking more slowly now, because of the weight of the water, they made their way back through the campsite. Here and there, they saw more familiar faces: other Hogwarts students with their families. Oliver Wood, the old captain of Alicia and Harry's House Quidditch team, who had just left Hogwarts, dragged Harry over to his parents' tent to introduce him, and told him excitedly that he had just been signed to the Puddlemere United reserve team. Next they were hailed by Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff fourth year, and a little farther on they saw Cho Chang, a very pretty girl who played Seeker on the Ravenclaw team. She waved and smiled at Harry, who slopped quite a lot of water down his front as he waved back. Alicia couldn't help but laugh as she had a small conversation with Cho, winking at Harry when she was done. More to stop Ron and Alicia from sharing knowing smirks than anything, Harry hurriedly pointed out a large group of teenagers whom he had never seen before.

"Who d'you reckon they are?" he said. "They don't go to Hogwarts, do they?"

" 'Spect they go to some foreign school," said Ron. "I know there are others. Never met anyone who went to one, though. Bill had a penfriend at a school in Brazil… this was years and years ago… and he wanted to go on an exchange trip but Mum and Dad couldn't afford it. His penfriend got all offended when he said he wasn't going and sent him a cursed hat. It made his ears shrivel up."

"Drama queen." Alicia rolled her eyes as Harry laughed. Harry seemed the only one surprised by the news of other wizarding schools. Although Hogwarts was the best, Hermione and Alicia had both run over news of other schools within books, unsurprisingly.

"You've been ages," said George when they finally got back to the Weasleys' tents.

"Met a few people," said Ron, setting the water down. "You not got that fire started yet?"

"Dad's having fun with the matches," said Fred.

"How many has he broken?" Alicia wondered

Mr. Weasley was having no success at all in lighting the fire, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Splintered matches littered the ground around him, but he looked as though he was having the time of his life.

"Oops!" he said as he managed to light a match and promptly dropped it in surprise.

"Come here, Mr. Weasley," said Hermione kindly, taking the box from him, and showing him how to do it properly.

At last they got the fire lit, though it was at least another hour before it was hot enough to cook anything. There was plenty to watch while they waited, however. Their tent seemed to be pitched right alongside a kind of thoroughfare to the field, and Ministry members kept hurrying up and down it, greeting Mr. Weasley cordially as they passed. Mr. Weasley kept up a running commentary, mainly for Alicia's, Harry's and Hermione's benefit; his own children knew too much about the Ministry to be greatly interested.

"That was Cuthbert Mockridge, Head of the Goblin Liaison Office… Here comes Gilbert Wimple; he's with the Committee on Experimental Charms; he's had those horns for a while now… Hello, Arnie… Arnold Peasegood, he's an Obliviator — member of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, you know… and that's Bode and Croaker… they're Unspeakables…"

"They're what?"

"From the Department of Mysteries, top secret, no idea what they get up to…"

At last, the fire was ready, and they had just started cooking eggs and sausages when Bill, Charlie, and Percy came strolling out of the woods toward them.

"Just Apparated, Dad," said Percy loudly. "Ah, excellent, lunch!"

They were halfway through their plates of eggs and sausages when Mr. Weasley jumped to his feet, waving and grinning at a man who was striding toward them.

"Aha!" he said. "The man of the moment! Ludo!"

Ludo Bagman was easily the most noticeable person so far, even including old Archie in his flowered nightdress. He was wearing long Quidditch robes in thick horizontal stripes of bright yellow and black. An enormous picture of a wasp was splashed across his chest. He had the look of a powerfully built man gone slightly to seed; the robes were stretched tightly across a large belly he surely had not had in the days when he had played Quidditch for England. His nose was squashed (probably broken by a stray Bludger), but his round blue eyes, short blond hair, and rosy complexion made him look like a very over-grown schoolboy.

"Ahoy there!" Bagman called happily. He was walking as though he had springs attached to the balls of his feet and was plainly in a state of wild excitement.

"Arthur, old man," he puffed as he reached the campfire, "what a day, eh? What a day! Could we have asked for more perfect weather? A cloudless night coming… and hardly a hiccough in the arrangements… Not much for me to do!"

Behind him, a group of haggard-looking Ministry wizards rushed past, pointing at the distant evidence of some sort of a magical fire that was sending violet sparks twenty feet into the air.

Percy hurried forward with his hand outstretched. Apparently his disapproval of the way Ludo Bagman ran his department did not prevent him from wanting to make a good impression.

"Ah — yes," said Mr. Weasley, grinning, "this is my son Percy. He's just started at the Ministry — and this is Fred — no, George, sorry — _that's_ Fred — Bill, Charlie, Ron — my daughter, Ginny — and Ron's friends, Hermione Granger, Alicia Evans and Harry Potter."

Bagman did the smallest of double takes when he heard Harry's name, and his eyes performed the familiar flick upward to the scar on Harry's forehead.

"Everyone," Mr. Weasley continued, "this is Ludo Bagman, you know who he is, it's thanks to him we've got such good tickets —" Bagman beamed and waved his hand as if to say it had been nothing.

"Fancy a flutter on the match, Arthur?" he said eagerly, jingling what seemed to be a large amount of gold in the pockets of his yellow-and-black robes. "I've already got Roddy Pontner betting me Bulgaria will score first — I offered him nice odds, considering Ireland's front three are the strongest I've seen in years — and little Agatha Timms has put up half shares in her eel farm on a week-long match."

"Oh… go on then," said Mr. Weasley. "Let's see… a Galleon on Ireland to win?"

"A Galleon?" Ludo Bagman looked slightly disappointed, but recovered himself. "Very well, very well… any other takers?"

"They're a bit young to be gambling," said Mr. Weasley. "Molly wouldn't like —"

"Boys?" Alicia asked Fred and George, cutting off Mr Weasley

"What do you think Alicia? Willing to put in some?" they asked her

"Sure." she smirked. Alicia handed the two twins ten galleons and they grinned before turning to Bagman.

"We'll bet forty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts," said Fred as he and George quickly pooled all their money, "that Ireland wins — but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch. Oh and we'll throw in a fake wand."

"You don't want to go showing Mr. Bagman rubbish like that —" Percy hissed, but Bagman didn't seem to think the wand was rubbish at all; on the contrary, his boyish face shone with excitement as he took it from Fred, and when the wand gave a loud squawk and turned into a rubber chicken, Bagman roared with laughter.

"Excellent! I haven't seen one that convincing in years! I'd pay five Galleons for that!"

Percy froze in an attitude of stunned disapproval.

"Boys," said Mr. Weasley under his breath, "I don't want you betting… That's all your savings… Your mother —"

"Don't be a spoilsport, Arthur!" boomed Ludo Bagman, rattling his pockets excitedly. "They're old enough to know what they want! You reckon Ireland will win but Krum'll get the Snitch? Not a chance, boys, not a chance… I'll give you excellent odds on that one…" Alicia and the twins shared a look. "We'll add five Galleons for the funny wand, then, shall we…"

Mr. Weasley looked on helplessly as Ludo Bagman whipped out a notebook and quill and began jotting down Alicia and the twins' names.

"Cheers," said George, taking the slip of parchment Bagman handed him and tucking it away carefully. Bagman turned most cheerfully back to Mr. Weasley.

"Couldn't do me a brew, I suppose? I'm keeping an eye out for Barty Crouch. My Bulgarian opposite number's making difficulties, and I can't understand a word he's saying. Barty'll be able to sort it out. He speaks about a hundred and fifty languages."

"Mr. Crouch?" said Percy, suddenly abandoning his look of poker-stiff disapproval and positively writhing with excitement. "He speaks over two hundred! Mermish and Gobbledegook and Troll…"

"Anyone can speak Troll," said Fred dismissively. "All you have to do is point and grunt."

Percy threw Fred an extremely nasty look and stoked the fire vigorously to bring the kettle back to the boil.

"Any news of Bertha Jorkins yet, Ludo?" Mr. Weasley asked as Bagman settled himself down on the grass beside them all. Alicia frowned, she had a small inkling to speak up and mention her dream, but Ludo Bagman wouldn't be interested in such a thing… plus she'd just look mad.

"Not a dicky bird," said Bagman comfortably. "But she'll turn up. Poor old Bertha… memory like a leaky cauldron and no sense of direction. Lost, you take my word for it. She'll wander back into the office sometime in October, thinking it's still July."

"You don't think it might be time to send someone to look for her?" Mr. Weasley suggested tentatively as Percy handed Bagman his tea.

"Barty Crouch keeps saying that," said Bagman, his round eyes widening innocently, "but we really can't spare anyone at the moment. Oh — talk of the devil! Barty!"

A wizard had just Apparated at their fireside, and he could not have made more of a contrast with Ludo Bagman, sprawled on the grass in his old Wasp robes. Barty Crouch was a stiff, upright, elderly man, dressed in an impeccably crisp suit and tie. The parting in his short grey hair was almost unnaturally straight, and his narrow toothbrush moustache looked as though he trimmed it using a slide rule. His shoes were very highly polished. Anyone could see at once why Percy idolised him. Percy was a great believer in rigidly following rules, and Mr. Crouch had complied with the rule about Muggle dressing so thoroughly that he could have passed for a bank manager.

"Pull up a bit of grass, Barty," said Ludo brightly, patting the ground beside him.

"No thank you, Ludo," said Crouch, and there was a bite of impatience in his voice. "I've been looking for you everywhere. The Bulgarians are insisting we add another twelve seats to the Top Box."

"Oh is _that_ what they're after?" said Bagman. "I thought the chap was asking to borrow a pair of tweezers. Bit of a strong accent."

"Mr. Crouch!" said Percy breathlessly, sunk into a kind of half-bow that made him look like a hunchback. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Oh," said Mr. Crouch, looking over at Percy in mild surprise. "Yes — thank you, Weatherby."

Fred and George choked into their own cups while Alicia placed a hand over her mouth to stop her spitting her tea out as she contained a chuckle of surprise. Percy, very pink around the ears, busied himself with the kettle.

"Oh and I've been wanting a word with you too, Arthur," said Mr. Crouch, his sharp eyes falling upon Mr. Weasley. "Ali Bashir's on the warpath. He wants a word with you about your embargo on flying carpets."

Mr. Weasley heaved a deep sigh.

"I sent him an owl about that just last week. If I've told him once I've told him a hundred times: Carpets are defined as a Muggle Artifact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects, but will he listen?"

"I doubt it," said Mr. Crouch, accepting a cup from Percy. "He's desperate to export here."

"Well, they'll never replace brooms in Britain, will they?" said Bagman.

"Ali thinks there's a niche in the market for a family vehicle," said Mr. Crouch. "I remember my grandfather had an Axminster that could seat twelve — but that was before carpets were banned, of course."

He spoke as though he wanted to leave nobody in any doubt that all his ancestors had abided strictly by the law.

"So, been keeping busy, Barty?" said Bagman breezily.

"Fairly," said Mr. Crouch dryly. "Organising Portkeys across five continents is no mean feat, Ludo."

"I expect you'll both be glad when this is over?" said Mr. Weasley.

Ludo Bagman looked shocked.  
"Glad! Don't know when I've had more fun… Still, it's not as though we haven't got anything to look forward to, eh, Barty? Eh? Plenty left to organise, eh?"

Mr. Crouch raised his eyebrows at Bagman and Alicia raised one of her own, glancing at Percy. Maybe there was something exciting happening…

"We agreed not to make the announcement until all the details —"

"Oh details!" said Bagman, waving the word away like a cloud of midges. "They've signed, haven't they? They've agreed, haven't they? I bet you anything these kids'll know soon enough anyway. I mean, it's happening at Hogwarts —"

"Ludo, we need to meet the Bulgarians, you know," said Mr. Crouch sharply, cutting Bagman's remarks short. "Thank you for the tea, Weatherby."

He pushed his undrunk tea back at Percy and waited for Ludo to rise; Bagman struggled to his feet, swigging down the last of his tea, the gold in his pockets chinking merrily.

"See you all later!" he said. "You'll be up in the Top Box with me — I'm commentating!" He waved, Barty Crouch nodded curtly, and both of them Disapparated.

"What's happening at Hogwarts, Dad?" said Fred at once. "What were they talking about?"

"You'll find out soon enough," said , smiling.

"It's classified information, until such time as the Ministry decides to release it," said Percy stiffly. "Mr. Crouch was quite right not to disclose it."

"Oh shut up, Weatherby," said Fred and Alicia laughed.

A sense of excitement rose like a palpable cloud over the campsite as the afternoon wore on. By dusk, the still summer air itself seemed to be quivering with anticipation, and as darkness spread like a curtain over the thousands of waiting wizards, the last vestiges of pretence disappeared: the Ministry seemed to have bowed to the inevitable and stopped fighting the signs of blatant magic now breaking out everywhere.

Salesmen were Apparating every few feet, carrying trays and pushing carts full of extraordinary merchandise. There were luminous rosettes — green for Ireland, red for Bulgaria — which were squealing the names of the players, pointed green hats bedecked with dancing shamrocks, Bulgarian scarves adorned with lions that really roared, flags from both countries that played their national anthems as they were waved; there were tiny models of Firebolts that really flew, and collectible figures of famous players, which strolled across the palm of your hand, preening themselves.

"Been saving my pocket money all summer for this," Ron told Harry as they, Alicia and Hermione strolled through the salesmen, buying souvenirs. Though Ron purchased a dancing shamrock hat and a large green rosette, he also bought a small figure of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker. The miniature Krum walked backward and forward over Ron's hand, scowling up at the green rosette above him.

Alicia had an Ireland scarf and a hat so far, as well as a bad full of green, and was looking at a few more souvenirs when Harry shouted.

"Wow, look at these!" hurrying over to a cart piled high with what looked like brass binoculars, except that they were covered with all sorts of weird knobs and dials.

"Omnioculars," said the saleswizard eagerly. "You can replay action… slow everything down… and they flash up a play-by-play breakdown if you need it. Bargain — ten Galleons each."

"Wish I hadn't bought this now," said Ron, gesturing at his dancing shamrock hat and gazing longingly at the Omnioculars.

Alicia and Harry shared a look and grinned

"Four pairs," they chorused firmly to the wizard.

"No — don't bother," said Ron, going red. He was always touchy about the fact that both Alicia and Harry, who had inherited small fortunes from their parents, had much more money than he did.

"You won't be getting anything for Christmas," Harry told him, thrusting Omnioculars into his and Hermione's hands as Alicia payed for two and Harry the other two. "For about ten years, mind."

"Fair enough," said Ron, grinning.

"Well, Harry wont." Alicia grinned and Ron shot her a look to which she grinned.

"Oooh, thanks, Harry," said Hermione. "And I'll get us some programs, look —"

Their money bags considerably lighter, they went back to the tents. Bill, Charlie, and Ginny were all sporting green rosettes too, and Mr. Weasley was carrying an Irish flag. Fred and George had no souvenirs as they had given Bagman all their gold.

"Here you go boys, can't have you looking plain now." Alicia grinned and she shoved the bag in her hand to the twins. They pulled out scarfs and shamrocks, looking at her surprised

"You can pay me back when we win." she assured and they grinned before pulling her into a hug.

And then a deep, booming gong sounded somewhere beyond the woods, and at once, green and red lanterns blazed into life in the trees, lighting a path to the field.

"It's time!" said Mr. Weasley, looking as excited as any of them. "Come on, let's go!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Clutching their purchases, Mr. Weasley in the lead, they all hurried into the wood, following the lantern-lit trail. They could hear the sounds of thousands of people moving around them, shouts and laughter, snatches of singing. The atmosphere of feverish excitement was highly infectious. A grin had spread over Alicia's face and was staying there, Harry was no different. They walked through the wood for twenty minutes, talking and joking loudly, until at last they emerged on the other side and found themselves in the shadow of a gigantic stadium. Though they could see only a fraction of the immense gold walls surrounding the field, Alicia could tell that ten cathedrals would fit comfortably inside it.

"Seats a hundred thousand," said Mr. Weasley, spotting the awestruck look on Alicia and Harry's face. "Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again… bless them," he added fondly, leading the way toward the nearest entrance, which was already surrounded by a swarm of shouting witches and wizards.

"Prime seats!" said the Ministry witch at the entrance when she checked their tickets. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go."

The stairs into the stadium were carpeted in rich purple. They clambered upward with the rest of the crowd, which slowly filtered away through doors into the stands to their left and right. Mr. Weasley's party kept climbing, and at last they reached the top of the staircase and found themselves in a small box, set at the highest point of the stadium and situated exactly halfway between the golden goal posts. About twenty purple-and-gold chairs stood in two rows here, and Harry, filing into the front seats with Hermione, Alicia and the Weasleys, looked down upon a scene the likes of which could never be imagined.

A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. Everything was suffused with a mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself. The field looked smooth as velvet from their lofty position. At either end of the field stood three goal hoops, fifty feet high; right opposite them, almost at their eye level, was a gigantic blackboard. Gold writing kept dashing across it as though an invisible giant's hand were scrawling upon the blackboard and then wiping it off again. It consisted of several advertisements for the moment.

The Bluebottle: A Broom for All the Family — safe, reliable, and with Built-in Anti-Burglar Buzzer… Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover: No Pain, No Stain!… Gladrags Wizardwear — London, Paris, Hogsmeade…

Alicia, with a grin, turned to Harry who shared her look. And then her brother spoke quite surprisingly

"Dobby?" Alicia spun around in her seat, she'd only met the house-elf once. Dobby had tried very hard to stop Harry from going back to Hogwarts in their second year. Things like blocking the barrier to platform nine and three-quarters, sending a bludger after Harry during Quidditch that broke his arm, and stealing all of the letters Alicia, Harry, Ron and Hagrid sent to Harry during the summer.

The tiny creature looked up and stretched its fingers, revealing enormous brown eyes and a nose the exact size and shape of a large tomato. Alicia's eyebrows furrowed, she had remembered Dobby having green eyes… it was a house-elf, as Harry's friend Dobby had been. Harry had set Dobby free from his old owners, the Malfoy family.

"Did sir just call me Dobby?" squeaked the elf curiously from between its fingers. Its voice was higher even than Dobby's had been, a teeny, quivering squeak of a voice, it gave Alicia the impression that that this one might just be female. Ron and Hermione spun around in their seats to look. Though they had heard a lot about Dobby from Harry, they had never actually met him. Even Mr. Weasley looked around in interest.

"Sorry," Harry told the elf, "I just thought you were someone I knew."

"But I knows Dobby too, sir!" squeaked the elf. She was shielding her face, as though blinded by light, though the Top Box was not brightly lit. "My name is Winky, sir — and you, sir —" Her dark brown eyes widened to the size of side plates as they rested upon Harry's scar. "You is surely Harry Potter!"

"Yeah, I am," said Harry, Alicia smiled and Harry shot her a look.

"But Dobby talks of you all the time, sir!" she said, lowering her hands very slightly and looking awestruck.

"How is he?" said Harry. "How's freedom suiting him?"

"Ah, sir," said Winky, shaking her head, "ah sir, meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure you did Dobby a favour, sir, when you is setting him free."

"Why?" said Harry, taken aback. "What's wrong with him?"

"Is he alright?" Alicia asked worried. The house elf turned to Alicia with confusion

"Alicia—"

"Evans." she finished

"Yous helped Harry Potter set Dobby free."

"Well… not really." Alicia said with confusion and looked at Harry who merely shrugged.

"You miss…" Winky began "Freedom is going to Dobby's head, sir," said Winky sadly. "Ideas above his station, sir. Can't get another position, sir."

"Why not?" said Harry.

Winky lowered her voice by a half-octave and whispered, " _He is wanting paying for his work, sir._ "

"Paying?" said Harry blankly. "Well — why shouldn't he be paid?"

Alicia sighed and looked at Harry sadly.

Winky looked quite horrified at the idea and closed her fingers slightly so that her face was half-hidden again.

"House-elves is not paid, sir!" she said in a muffled squeak. "No, no, no. I says to Dobby, I says, go find yourself a nice family and settle down, Dobby. He is getting up to all sorts of high jinks, sir, what is unbecoming to a house-elf. You goes racketing around like this, Dobby, I says, and next thing I hear you's up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, like some common goblin."

"Well, it's about time he had a bit of fun," said Harry.

"Especially after being with those terrible Malfoys." Alicia rolled her eyes

"House-elves is not supposed to have fun, Harry Potter," said Winky firmly, from behind her hands. "House-elves does what they is told. I is not liking heights at all, Harry Potter" — she glanced toward the edge of the box and gulped — "but my master sends me to the Top Box and I comes, sir."

"Why's he sent you up here, if he knows you don't like heights?" said Harry, frowning.

"Master — master wants me to save him a seat, Harry Potter. He is very busy," said Winky, tilting her head toward the empty space beside her. "Winky is wishing she is back in master's tent, Harry Potter, but Winky does what she is told. Winky is a good house-elf."

She gave the edge of the box another frightened look and hid her eyes completely again. Harry turned back to the others.

"So that's a house-elf?" Ron muttered. "Weird things, aren't they?"

"Dobby was weirder," said Harry fervently.

"Understatement." Alicia muttered as she turned around also.

Ron pulled out his Omnioculars and started testing them, staring down into the crowd on the other side of the stadium.

"Wild!" he said, twiddling the replay knob on the side. "I can make that old bloke down there pick his nose again… and again… and again…" Alicia rolled her eyes.

Hermione, meanwhile, was skimming eagerly through her velvet-covered, tasseled program.

" 'A display from the team mascots will precede the match,' " she read aloud.

"Oh that's always worth watching," said Mr. Weasley. "National teams bring creatures from their native land, you know, to put on a bit of a show."

"So will the Irish bring Leprechauns?" Alicia wondered.

The box filled gradually around them over the next half hour.

Mr. Weasley kept shaking hands with people who were obviously very important wizards. Percy jumped to his feet so often that he looked as though he were trying to sit on a hedgehog. When Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself, arrived, Percy bowed so low that his glasses fell off and shattered. Highly embarrassed, he repaired them with his wand and thereafter remained in his seat, throwing jealous looks at Harry and Alicia, whom Cornelius Fudge had greeted both like an old friend. They had met before, and Fudge shook the twin's hand in a fatherly fashion, asking how Harry was, and introduced him to the wizards on either side of him.

"Harry Potter, you know," he told the Bulgarian minister loudly, who was wearing splendid robes of black velvet trimmed with gold and didn't seem to understand a word of English. " _Harry Potter…_ oh come on now, you know who he is… the boy who survived You-Know-Who… you _do_ know who he is —"

Alicia sighed and lifted Harry's hair from his forehead, to which he swatted it away, but too late the Bulgarian wizard spotted Harry's scar and started gabbling loudly and excitedly, pointing at it.

"Knew we'd get there in the end," said Fudge wearily to Harry. "I'm no great shakes at languages; I need Barty Crouch for this sort of thing. Ah, I see his house-elf's saving him a seat… Good job too, these Bulgarian blighters have been trying to cadge all the best places… ah, and here's Lucius!"

Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione turned quickly. Edging along the second row to three still-empty seats right behind Mr. Weasley were none other than Dobby the house-elf's former owners: Lucius Malfoy; his son, Draco; and a woman who must have been Draco's mother.

Harry and Draco Malfoy had been enemies ever since their very first journey to Hogwarts. A pale boy with a pointed face and white-blond hair, Draco greatly resembled his father. His mother was blonde too; tall and slim, she would have been nice-looking if she hadn't been wearing a look that suggested there was a nasty smell under her nose.

"Ah, Fudge," said Mr. Malfoy, holding out his hand as he reached the Minister of Magic. "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco?"

"How do you do, how do you do?" said Fudge, smiling and bowing to Mrs. Malfoy. "And allow me to introduce you to Mr. Oblansk — Obalonsk — Mr. — well, he's the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and he can't understand a word I'm saying anyway, so never mind. And let's see who else — you know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?"

It was a tense moment. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy looked at each other and Alicia smirked as she remembered the last time they had come face-to-face: It had been in Flourish and Blotts' bookshop, and they had had a fight. Mr. Malfoy's cold grey eyes swept over Mr. Weasley, and then up and down the row.

"Good lord, Arthur," he said softly. "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"

Fudge, who wasn't listening, said, "Lucius has just given a _very_ generous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Arthur. He's here as my guest."

"How — how nice," said Mr. Weasley, with a very strained smile.

Mr. Malfoy's eyes had returned to Hermione, who went slightly pink, but stared determinedly back at him. It wasn't hard to understand what was making Mr. Malfoy's lip curl like that. The Malfoys prided themselves on being purebloods; in other words, they considered anyone of Muggle descent, like Hermione, second-class. However, under the gaze of the Minister of Magic, Mr. Malfoy didn't dare say anything. He nodded sneeringly to Mr. Weasley and continued down the line to his seats. Draco shot Harry, Ron, and Hermione one contemptuous look, gave Alicia a horrible glare who just smiled back with a wave, then settled himself between his mother and father.

"Slimy gits," Ron muttered as he, Alicia, Harry, and Hermione turned to face the field again. Next moment, Ludo Bagman charged into the box.

"Everyone ready?" he said, his round face gleaming like a great, excited Edam. "Minister — ready to go?"

"Ready when you are, Ludo," said Fudge comfortably.

Ludo whipped out his wand, directed it at his own throat, and said " _Sonorus_!" and then spoke over the roar of sound that was now filling the packed stadium; his voice echoed over them, booming into every corner of the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

The spectators screamed and clapped. Thousands of flags waved, adding their discordant national anthems to the racket. The huge blackboard opposite them was wiped clear of its last message

(Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans — A Risk With Every Mouthful!) and now showed BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0.

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce… the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

The right-hand side of the stands, which was a solid block of scarlet, roared its approval.

"I wonder what they've brought," said Mr. Weasley, leaning forward in his seat. "Aaah!" He suddenly whipped off his glasses and polished them hurriedly on his robes. " _Veela_!"

"What are veel — ?"

But a hundred veela were now gliding out onto the field, and Harry's question was answered for him. Veela were women… the most beautiful women Alicia had seen yet… she believed they were too beautiful to be human. Their skin shone moon-bright and their white-gold hair fanned out behind them without wind. And then the music started Alicia watched them with raised eyebrows.

They danced beautifully, almost mesmerisingly so. Apparently they were, for all the boys, other than Mr Weasley, got up from their seats and moved to the barrier. It was as though they were preparing to jump the railing to get to the dancing Veela. Alicia, Ginny and Hermione stared at them confused.

"Harry, what _are_ you doing?" questioned Hermione

The music stopped and the boys all stopped. Harry had one of his legs resting on the wall of the box. Next to him, Ron was frozen in an attitude that looked as though he were about to dive from a springboard.

Angry yells were filling the stadium. The crowd didn't want the veela to go. Harry looked down at his green Irish souvenirs with disgust while Ron was absent-mindedly shredding the shamrocks on his hat.

"Ron." Alicia scolded "What are you doing?!"

"I'm supporting Bulgaria." he stated

"Since when?" Alicia questioned confused. Mr. Weasley, smiling slightly, leaned over to Ron and tugged the hat out of his hands.

"You'll be wanting that," he said, "once Ireland have had their say."

"Huh?" said Ron, staring openmouthed at the veela, who had now lined up along one side of the field.

Hermione made a loud tutting noise. She reached up and pulled Harry back into his seat. " _Honestly_!" she said.

"Boys." Alicia said to Ginny who nodded with a sigh.

"And now," roared Ludo Bagman's voice, "kindly put your wands in the air… for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

Next moment, what seemed to be a great green-and-gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one circuit of the stadium, then split into two smaller comets, each hurtling toward the goal posts. A rainbow arced suddenly across the field, connecting the two balls of light. The crowd oooohed and aaaaahed, as though at a fireworks display. Now the rainbow faded and the balls of light reunited and merged; they had formed a great shimmering shamrock, which rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands. Something like golden rain seemed to be falling from it —

"Excellent!" yelled Ron as the shamrock soared over them, and heavy gold coins rained from it, bouncing off their heads and seats. The shamrock amazingly was comprised of thousands of tiny little bearded men with red vests, each carrying a minute lamp of gold or green.

"Leprechauns!" said Mr. Weasley over the tumultuous applause of the crowd, many of whom were still fighting and rummaging around under their chairs to retrieve the gold.

"I knew it." Alicia smirked as she too grabbed a heap of gold, though not needing it.

"There you go," Ron yelled happily, stuffing a fistful of gold coins into Harry's hand, "for the Omnioculars! Now you've got to buy me a Christmas present, ha!"

The great shamrock dissolved, the leprechauns drifted down onto the field on the opposite side from the veela, and settled themselves cross-legged to watch the match.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome — the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you — Dimitrov!"

A scarlet-clad figure on a broomstick, moving so fast it was blurred, shot out onto the field from an entrance far below, to wild applause from the Bulgarian supporters.

"Ivanova!"

A second scarlet-robed player zoomed out.

"Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand — _Krum_!"

"That's him, that's him!" yelled Ron, following Krum with his Omnioculars. Alicia focused her own in curiosity before she spotted the seeker. Viktor Krum was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He looked like an over-grown bird of prey. It was hard to believe he was only eighteen.

"I don't see what's so impressive about him." Alicia muttered

"And now, please greet — the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled Bagman. "Presenting — Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand — _Lynch_!"

Seven green blurs swept onto the field; Alicia could tell from the speed that they were all on the latest made firebolts and grinned at the thought that she knew of the speed they were currently experiencing.

"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"

A small and skinny wizard, completely bald but with a moustache to rival Uncle Vernon's, wearing robes of pure gold to match the stadium, strode out onto the field. A silver whistle was protruding from under the moustache, and he was carrying a large wooden crate under one arm, his broomstick under the other. Alicia was sitting on the edge of her seat in anticipation, watching closely as Mostafa mounted his broomstick and kicked the crate open — four balls burst into the air: the scarlet Quaffle, the two black Bludgers, and Alicia grinned as she spotted the minuscule, winged Golden Snitch. With a sharp blast on his whistle, Mostafa shot into the air after the balls.

"Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Bagman. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!"

The Quaffle passed from hand to hand so quickly that Alicia's mouth hung open in amazement. The games at Hogwarts were not nearly close enough to even consider rivalling this. The speed of the players was incredible — the Chasers were throwing the Quaffle to one another so fast that Bagman only had time to say their names.

She watched as the quaffle went from Ivanova to Moran, who dodged a blurred bludger into Levski's hands. He wasn't able to hold it for long though as the Irish snatched the Quaffle. Alicia was out of her seat, Ron with her as the Irish sped to the goalpost before —

"TROY SCORES!" roared Bagman, and the stadium shuddered with a roar of applause and cheers. "Ten zero to Ireland!"

Alicia was out of her seat cheering as she clapped her hands

"What?" Harry yelled, looking wildly around through his Omnioculars. "But Levski's got the Quaffle!"

"Don't tell me you had it all slowed down." Alicia said shocked

"Harry, if you're not going to watch at normal speed, you're going to miss things!" shouted Hermione, who was dancing up and down, waving her arms in the air while Troy did a lap of honour around the field. Harry looked quickly over the top of his Omnioculars and saw as the leprechauns watching from the sidelines had all risen into the air again and formed the great, glittering shamrock. Across the field, the veela were watching them sulkily.

Play began to resume and Alicia watched as the Irish chasers worked as a seamless team, their movements so well coordinated that they appeared to be reading one another's minds as they positioned themselves, and the rosette on Harry's chest beside her kept squeaking their names: " _Troy_ — _Mullet_ — _Moran_!" And within ten minutes, Ireland had scored twice more, bringing their lead to thirty-zero and causing a thunderous tide of roars and applause from the green-clad supporters.

The match became still faster, but more brutal. Volkov and Vulchanov, the Bulgarian Beaters, were whacking the Bludgers as fiercely as possible at the Irish Chasers, and were starting to prevent them from using some of their best moves; twice they were forced to scatter, and then, finally, Ivanova managed to break through their ranks; dodge the Keeper, Ryan; and score Bulgaria's first goal.

"Fingers in your ears!" bellowed Mr. Weasley as the veela started to dance in celebration. Harry screwed up his eyes too and Alicia was glad she was a girl. They didn't dance for long and Bulgaria was again in possession of the Quaffle.

"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova — oh I say!" roared Bagman.

One hundred thousand wizards gasped as the two Seekers, Krum and Lynch, plummeted through the centre of the Chasers, so fast that it looked as though they had just jumped from airplanes without parachutes. Alicia looked furiously for the flash of gold through her Omnioculars but couldn't spot it.

"They're going to crash!" screamed Hermione next to Harry.

She was half right — at the very last second, Viktor Krum pulled out of the dive and spiralled off. Lynch, however, hit the ground with a dull thud that could be heard throughout the stadium. A huge groan rose from the Irish seats.

"Fool!" moaned Mr. Weasley. "Krum was feinting!"

"It's time-out!" yelled Bagman's voice, "as trained mediwizards hurry onto the field to examine Aidan Lynch!"

"He'll be okay, he only got ploughed!" Charlie said reassuringly to Ginny, who was hanging over the side of the box, looking horror-struck. "Which is what Krum was after, of course…"

"I was going to say, I didn't see the snitch at all." she looked at Harry and saw as he pressed the replay and play-by-play buttons on his Omnioculars, twiddled the speed dial, and held them up. Alicia and Harry put their heads together, a lens each and watched.

Krum and Lynch dived in slow motion. WRONSKI DEFENSIVE FEINT — DANGEROUS SEEKER DIVERSION read the shining purple lettering across the lenses. Krum's face was contorted with concentration as he pulled out of the dive just in time, while Lynch was flattened, and Alicia was right, there had not been a snitch, Krum was just making Lynch copy him. Neither of the two twins had ever seen anyone fly like that; Krum hardly looked as though he was using a broomstick at all; he moved so easily through the air that he looked unsupported and weightless.

"I hope I can fly like that." Alicia grinned to Harry as they pulled away and Harry turned his Omnioculars back to normal. Alicia looked back to the pitch to see Krum was now circling high above Lynch, who was being revived by mediwizards with cups of potion.

"He's looking for the snitch." Harry said to Alicia, she turned her Omnioculars to Krum and saw he was right, Krum's dark eyes were darting all over the ground a hundred feet below. He was using the time while Lynch was revived to look for the Snitch without interference.

Lynch got to his feet at last, to loud cheers from the green-clad supporters, mounted his Firebolt, and kicked back off into the air. His revival seemed to give Ireland new heart. When Mostafa blew his whistle again, the Chasers moved into action with a skill unrivalled by anything.

After fifteen more fast and furious minutes, Ireland had pulled ahead by ten more goals. They were now leading by one hundred and thirty points to ten, and the game was starting to get dirtier.

"Who's going to win a bet?" Alicia said to Fred and George. Both of them grinned. Unless Bulgaria scored everything and Irish scored nothing more, two more goals and Bulgaria wouldn't have the chance to win.

As Mullet shot toward the goal posts yet again, clutching the Quaffle tightly under her arm, the Bulgarian Keeper, Zograf, flew out to meet her. Alicia stood and watched as the Keeper smashed one of his elbows into the Irish Chaser. It was worse than Slytherin's antics!

A scream of rage from the Irish crowd sounded above all else, and Mostafa's long, shrill whistle blast, told it had been a foul.

"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbing — excessive use of elbows!" Bagman informed the roaring spectators. "And — yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!"

The leprechauns, who had risen angrily into the air like a swarm of glittering hornets when Mullet had been fouled, now darted together to form the words "HA, HA, HA!" The veela on the other side of the field leapt to their feet, tossed their hair angrily, and started to dance again.

As one, the Weasley boys and Harry stuffed their fingers into their ears. Alicia however was laughing her head of as Hermione tugged on Harry's arm. He turned to look at her, and she pulled his fingers impatiently out of his ears.

"Look at the referee!" she said, giggling.

Harry looked down at the field. Hassan Mostafa had landed right in front of the dancing veela, and was acting very oddly indeed. He was flexing his muscles and smoothing his moustache excitedly.

"Now, we can't have that!" said Ludo Bagman, though he sounded highly amused. "Somebody slap the referee!"

A mediwizard came tearing across the field, his fingers stuffed into his own ears, and kicked Mostafa hard in the shins. Mostafa seemed to come to himself, Alicia still laughing watched as he looked exceptionally embarrassed and had started shouting at the veela, who had stopped dancing and were looking mutinous.

"And unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots!" said Bagman's voice. "Now _there's_ something we haven't seen before… Oh this could turn nasty…"

It did: The Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov and Vulchanov, landed on either side of Mostafa and began arguing furiously with him, gesticulating toward the leprechauns, who had now gleefully formed the words "HEE, HEE, HEE." Mostafa was not impressed by the Bulgarians' arguments, however; he was jabbing his finger into the air, clearly telling them to get flying again, and when they refused, he gave two short blasts on his whistle.

" _Two_ penalties for Ireland!" shouted Bagman, and the Bulgarian crowd howled with anger. "And Volkov and Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms… yes… there they go… and Troy takes the Quaffle…"

Play now reached a level of ferocity beyond anything they had yet seen. The Beaters on both sides were acting without mercy: Volkov and Vulchanov in particular seemed not to care whether their clubs made contact with Bludger or human as they swung them violently through the air. Dimitrov shot straight at Moran, who had the Quaffle, nearly knocking her off her broom.

" _Foul_!" roared the Irish supporters as one, all standing up in a great wave of green.

"Foul!" echoed Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice. "Dimitrov skins Moran — deliberately flying to collide there — and it's got to be another penalty — yes, there's the whistle!"

The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and this time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude sign indeed at the veela across the field. At this, the veela lost control. Instead of dancing, they launched themselves across the field and began throwing what seemed to be handfuls of fire at the leprechauns.

Alicia watched with shock as suddenly the Veela's didn't look remotely beautiful anymore. On the contrary, their faces were elongating into sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads, and long, scaly wings were bursting from their shoulders —

"And _that,_ boys," yelled Mr. Weasley over the tumult of the crowd below, "is why you should never go for looks alone!"

Alicia bursted out laughing and clapped Harry and Fred on the shoulders happily.

Ministry wizards were flooding onto the field to separate the veela and the leprechauns, but with little success; meanwhile, the pitched battle below was nothing to the one taking place above. The Quaffle changed hands with the speed of a bullet, using Alicia's neck to receive a work out from her turning her head so quickly.

"Levski — Dimitrov — Moran — Troy — Mullet — Ivanova — Moran again — Moran — MORAN SCORES!"

But the cheers of the Irish supporters were barely heard over the shrieks of the veela, the blasts now issuing from the Ministry members' wands, and the furious roars of the Bulgarians. The game recommenced immediately; now Levski had the Quaffle, now Dimitrov —

The Irish Beater Quigley swung heavily at a passing Bludger, and hit it as hard as possible toward Krum, who did not duck quickly enough. It hit him full in the face.

There was a deafening groan from the crowd; Krum's nose looked broken, there was blood everywhere, but Hassan Mostafa didn't blow his whistle. He had become distracted, and Harry couldn't blame him; one of the veela had thrown a handful of fire and set his broom tail alight.

"They need to call time out!" Harry shouted

"He can't play like that!" Alicia agreed. Even though the two were supporting Ireland, both agreed that Krum was the most exciting player on the field. Ron obviously felt the same.

"Time-out! Ah, come on, he can't play like that, look at him —"

" _Look at Lynch_!" Harry yelled.

For the Irish Seeker had suddenly gone into a dive, and this time Alicia was sure as sure that this was no Wronski Feint; this was the real thing…

"He's seen the Snitch!" Harry shouted. "He's seen it! Look at him go!"

Half the crowd seemed to have realised what was happening; the Irish supporters rose in another great wave of green, screaming their Seeker on… but Krum was on his tail. How he could see where he was going, Alicia didn't know; there were flecks of blood flying through the air behind him, but he was drawing level with Lynch now as the pair of them hurtled toward the ground again —

"They're going to crash!" shrieked Hermione.

"They're not!" roared Ron.

"Lynch is!" yelled Harry.

"Krum's going to catch it!" Alicia shouted

And both twins were right — for the second time, Lynch hit the ground with tremendous force and was immediately stampeded by a horde of angry veela.

"The Snitch, where's the Snitch?" bellowed Charlie, along the row.

"He's got it — Krum's got it — it's all over!" shouted Harry.

Krum, his red robes shining with blood from his nose, was rising gently into the air, his fist held high, a glint of gold in his hand. The scoreboard was flashing BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170 across the crowd, who didn't seem to have realised what had happened. Then, slowly, as though a great jumbo jet were revving up, the rumbling from the Ireland supporters grew louder and louder and erupted into screams of delight.

"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted, who like the Irish, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match. "KRUM GETS THE SNITCH — BUT IRELAND WINS — good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"

Alicia was out of her seat and the Weasley Twins had her in a grip as she turned to Bagman.

"I'm sorry! Yes we were!" but the roar of the crowd seemed to have drowned her voice out, as well as the Weasley's thinking about how much money they won.

"What did he catch the Snitch for?" Ron bellowed, even as he jumped up and down, applauding with his hands over his head. "He ended it when Ireland were a hundred and sixty points ahead, the idiot!"

"He knew they were never going to catch up!" Harry shouted back over all the noise, also applauding loudly. "The Irish Chasers were too good… He wanted to end it on his terms, that's all…"

"He was very brave, wasn't he?" Hermione said, leaning forward to watch Krum land as a swarm of mediwizards blasted a path through the battling leprechauns and veela to get to him.

"Oh Hermione." Alicia sighed and Hermione shot her an annoyed look, causing the black heard girl to grin.

"He looks a terrible mess…" she diverted the conversation.

Harry put his Omnioculars to his eyes again. It was hard to see what was happening below, because leprechauns were zooming delightedly all over the field, but Krum could just be made out, surrounded by mediwizards. He looked surlier than ever and refused to let them mop him up. His team members were around him, shaking their heads and looking dejected; a short way away, the Irish players were dancing gleefully in a shower of gold descending from their mascots. Flags were waving all over the stadium, the Irish national anthem blared from all sides; the veela were shrinking back into their usual, beautiful selves now, though looking dispirited and forlorn.

"Vell, ve fought bravely," said a gloomy voice behind Harry and Alicia. The two looked around; it was the Bulgarian Minister of Magic.

"You can speak English!" said Fudge, sounding outraged. "And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"

"Vell, it vos very funny," said the Bulgarian minister, shrugging.

"And as the Irish team performs a lap of honour, flanked by their mascots, the Quidditch World Cup itself is brought into the Top Box!" roared Bagman.

Alicia squinted as her eyes were suddenly dazzled by a blinding white light, as the Top Box was magically illuminated so that everyone in the stands could see the inside. Squinting toward the entrance, she saw two panting wizards carrying a vast golden cup into the box, which they handed to Cornelius Fudge, who was still looking very disgruntled that he'd been using sign language all day for nothing.

"Let's have a really loud hand for the gallant losers — Bulgaria!" Bagman shouted.

And up the stairs into the box came the seven defeated Bulgarian players. The crowd below was applauding appreciatively; Harry could see thousands and thousands of Omniocular lenses flashing and winking in their direction.

One by one, the Bulgarians filed between the rows of seats in the box, and Bagman called out the name of each as they shook hands with their own minister and then with Fudge. Krum, who was last in line, looked a real mess. Two black eyes were blooming spectacularly on his bloody face. He was still holding the Snitch. To Alicia's surprise Krum seemed much less coordinated on the ground. He was slightly duck-footed and distinctly round-shouldered. But when Krum's name was announced, the whole stadium gave him a resounding, earsplitting roar.

And then came the Irish team. Aidan Lynch was being supported by Moran and Connolly; the second crash seemed to have dazed him and his eyes looked strangely unfocused. But he grinned happily as Troy and Quigley lifted the Cup into the air and the crowd below thundered its approval.

At last, when the Irish team had left the box to perform another lap of honour on their brooms (Aidan Lynch on the back of Connolly's, clutching hard around his waist and still grinning in a bemused sort of way), Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, " _Quietus._ "

"They'll be talking about this one for years," he said hoarsely, "a really unexpected twist, that… shame it couldn't have lasted longer…"

Alicia grabbed the Weasley twin's arms and began to jump over their seats towards Bagman.

"Ah yes… yes, I owe you… how much?" He asked when the three were standing in front of Ludo Bagman with broad grins on their faces, their hands outstretched.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

" _Don't_ tell your mother you've been gambling," Mr. Weasley implored Fred and George as they all made their way slowly down the purple-carpeted stairs.

"Yeah right." Alicia said shooting the two boys a look. She hadn't asked for more than five galleons back from the twins.

"Don't worry, Dad," said Fred gleefully, "we've got big plans for this money. We don't want it confiscated."

Mr. Weasley looked for a moment as though he was going to ask what these big plans were, but seemed to decide, upon reflection, that he didn't want to know.

They were soon caught up in the crowds now flooding out of the stadium and back to their campsites. Raucous singing was borne toward them on the night air as they retraced their steps along the lantern-lit path, and leprechauns kept shooting over their heads, cackling and waving their lanterns. When they finally reached the tents, nobody felt like sleeping at all, and given the level of noise around them, Mr. Weasley agreed that they could all have one last cup of cocoa together before turning in. They were soon arguing enjoyably about the match; Mr. Weasley got drawn into a disagreement about cobbing with Charlie, and it was only when Ginny fell asleep right at the tiny table and spilled hot chocolate all over the floor that Mr. Weasley called a halt to the verbal replays and insisted that everyone go to bed. Alicia, Hermione and Ginny went into the next tent, and Harry and the rest of the Weasleys changed into pyjamas and clambered into their bunks. From the other side of the campsite they could still hear much singing and the odd echoing bang.

Alicia yawned and the matched played over in her head as she fell asleep rather quickly, her, Hermione and Ginny not bothering to continue any talk of the game.

She hadn't been asleep for long however before a large bang sounded and she jumped so high from her bed that she tumbled to the floor within her sheets.

"What's w-w-w-w-wrong?" Ginny asked as she yawned, having been next to Alicia and heard her thump.

"Something crashed." Alicia muttered as she struggled to untangle herself.

"Are people still celebrating?" Hermione mumbled, not even opening her eyes

"They must be, fireworks or something." Alicia sighed as she stood up and laid her sheets back on her bed.

However before she'd managed to climb back in another bang sounded. Ginny and Hermione sat up quickly in their beds with wide eyes, the sleep gone. That was not a firework. Soon screams were following the bangs, crashed and thundering feet joined it.

The three girls shared a terrified look before Alicia grabbed some clothes and yanked them on as quickly as possible. Ginny and Hermione went to follow her lead as she grabbed her wand before Mr Weasley appeared at the tent.

"Girls! Hurry! Follow quickly!" He grabbed Ginny as she and Hermione grabbed jackets and their wands and they ran towards were Harry and Ron were standing with jackets quickly followed by Alicia, the Twins glancing around in both worry and confusion.

Outside was in panic. By the light of the few fires that were still burning, people could be seen running away into the woods, fleeing something that was moving across the field toward them, something that was emitting odd flashes of light and noises like gunfire. Loud jeering, roars of laughter, and drunken yells were drifting toward them; then came a burst of strong green light, which illuminated the scene.

A crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight upward, was marching slowly across the field. Grabbing Harry's hand Alicia watched them fearfully. They didn't seem to have faces… but that wasn't it, their heads were hooded and their faces masked. High above them, floating along in midair, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes. It was as though the masked wizards on the ground were puppeteers, and the people above them were marionettes operated by invisible strings that rose from the wands into the air. Two of the figures were very small.

More wizards were joining the marching group, laughing and pointing up at the floating bodies. Tents crumpled and fell as the marching crowd swelled. Once or twice the marchers blasted a tent out of his way with his wand. Several caught fire. The screaming grew louder.

The floating people were suddenly illuminated as they passed over a burning tent and Alicia's eyes widened as she recognised one of them: Mr. Roberts, the campsite manager. The other three looked as though they might be his wife and children. One of the marchers below flipped Mrs. Roberts upside down with his wand; her nightdress fell down to reveal voluminous drawers and she struggled to cover herself up as the crowd below her screeched and hooted with glee.

"That's sick," Ron muttered, watching the smallest Muggle child, who had begun to spin like a top, sixty feet above the ground, his head flopping limply from side to side. "That is really sick…"

At that moment, Bill, Charlie, and Percy emerged from the boys' tent, fully dressed, with their sleeves rolled up and their wands out.

"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley shouted over all the noise, rolling up his own sleeves. "You lot — get into the woods, and _stick together._ I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!"

Bill, Charlie, and Percy were already sprinting away toward the oncoming marchers; Mr. Weasley tore after them. Ministry wizards were dashing from every direction toward the source of the trouble. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was coming ever closer.

"We need move!" Alicia shouted seriously and she pulled on Harry's hand.

"C'mon," said Fred, grabbing Ginny's hand and starting to pull her toward the wood. Alicia, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and George followed. They all looked back as they reached the trees. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was larger than ever; they could see the Ministry wizards trying to get through it to the hooded wizards in the centre, but they were having great difficulty. It looked as though they were scared to perform any spell that might make the Roberts family fall.

The coloured lanterns that had lit the path to the stadium had been extinguished. Dark figures were blundering through the trees; children were crying; anxious shouts and panicked voices were reverberating around them in the cold night air. Alicia was pushed and nudged in several directions as she also tried to not fall over. Then she heard Ron yell with pain.

"What happened?" said Hermione anxiously, stopping so abruptly that Harry walked into her. "Ron, where are you? Oh this is stupid — _lumos_!"

She illuminated her wand and directed its narrow beam across the path. Ron was lying sprawled on the ground.

"Tripped over a tree root," he said angrily, getting to his feet again.

"Well, with feet that size, hard not to," said a drawling voice from behind them.

Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned sharply. Draco Malfoy was standing alone nearby, leaning against a tree, looking utterly relaxed. His arms folded, he seemed to have been watching the scene at the campsite through a gap in the trees.

Ron told Malfoy to do something that made Alicia smirk and she placed a hand over Hermione's mouth as she looked about to say something.

"Language, Weasley," said Malfoy, his pale eyes glittering. "Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like _her_ spotted, would you?"

He nodded at Hermione, and at the same moment, a blast like a bomb sounded from the campsite, and a flash of green light momentarily lit the trees around them.

"Why you little—" Alicia began only to be held back by Harry and cut off by Hermione

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Hermione defiantly.

"Granger, they're after _Muggles,_ " said Malfoy. "D'you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around… they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh."

"Hermione's a witch," Harry snarled.

"Have it your own way, Potter," said Malfoy, grinning maliciously. "If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."

"You watch your mouth!" shouted Ron. Everybody present knew that "Mudblood" was a very offensive term for a witch or wizard of Muggle parentage.

"Never mind, Ron," said Hermione quickly, seizing Ron's arm to restrain him as he took a step toward Malfoy.

There came a bang from the other side of the trees that was louder than anything they had heard. Several people nearby screamed. Malfoy chuckled softly.

"Scare easily, don't they?" he said lazily. "I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to — trying to rescue the Muggles?"

"Where're _your_ parents?" said Harry, his temper rising. "Out there wearing masks, are they?"

Malfoy turned his face to Harry, still smiling.

"Well… if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?"

"Oh come on," said Hermione, with a disgusted look at Malfoy, "let's go and find the others."

"Keep that big bushy head down, Granger," sneered Malfoy.

Alicia couldn't help it. She raised her wand and was ready to do something nasty like she usually did before Harry grabbed her wand and dragged Alicia off after Hermione and Ron.

"You should have let me hit him!" Alicia hissed as she took her wand back

"And risk you getting an official warning?" Hermione said strongly

"With this many wizards and this commotion I bet I'd get away with it." Alicia said angrily

"I'll bet you anything his dad _is_ one of that masked lot!" said Ron hotly.

"Well, with any luck, the Ministry will catch him!" said Hermione fervently. "Oh I can't believe this. Where have the others got to?"

Fred, George, and Ginny were nowhere to be seen, though the path was packed with plenty of other people, all looking nervously over their shoulders toward the commotion back at the campsite. A huddle of teenagers in pyjamas was arguing vociferously a little way along the path. When they saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione, a girl with thick curly hair turned and said quickly, " _Où est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue_ —"

"Er — what?" said Ron.

"Oh…" The girl who had spoken turned her back on him, and as they walked on they distinctly heard her say, " 'Ogwarts."

"Beauxbatons," muttered Alicia and Hermione to one another with a glance.

"Sorry?" said Harry.

"They must go to Beauxbatons," said Hermione. "You know… Beauxbatons Academy of Magic… I read about it in _An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe._ "

"It's a French school." Alicia said simply

"Oh… yeah… right," said Harry.

"Fred and George can't have gone that far," said Ron, pulling out his wand, lighting it like Hermione's, and squinting up the path. Alicia did the same quickly while Harry dug in the pockets of his jacket for his own wand

"Ah, no, I don't believe it… I've lost my wand!"

"You what!?" Alicia snapped shocked

"You're kidding!"

Ron and Hermione raised their wands high enough to spread the narrow beams of light farther on the ground. Alicia eyed the ground with her own wand as Harry looked all around him, but his wand was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe it's back in the tent," said Ron.

"Maybe it fell out of your pocket when we were running?" Hermione suggested anxiously.

"Yeah," said Harry, "maybe…"

A rustling noise nearby made all three of them jump. Winky the house-elf was fighting her way out of a clump of bushes nearby. She was moving in a most peculiar fashion, apparently with great difficulty; it was as though someone invisible were trying to hold her back.

"There is bad wizards about!" she squeaked distractedly as she leaned forward and laboured to keep running. "People high — high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!"

And she disappeared into the trees on the other side of the path, panting and squeaking as she fought the force that was restraining her.

"What's up with her?" said Ron, looking curiously after Winky. "Why can't she run properly?"

"Bet she didn't ask permission to hide," said Harry. Harry had told Alicia how when ever Dobby had tried to do something the Malfoys wouldn't like, the house-elf had been forced to start beating himself up.

"Either that or she was made to stay." Alicia sighed

"You know, house-elves get a _very_ raw deal!" said Hermione indignantly. "It's slavery, that's what it is! That Mr. Crouch made her go up to the top of the stadium, and she was terrified, and he's got her bewitched so she can't even run when they start trampling tents! Why doesn't anyone _do_ something about it?"

"Well, the elves are happy, aren't they?" Ron said. "You heard old Winky back at the match… 'House-elves is not supposed to have fun'… that's what she likes, being bossed around…"

"It's people like _you,_ Ron," Hermione began hotly, "who prop up rotten and unjust systems, just because they're too lazy to —"

Another loud bang echoed from the edge of the wood.

"Let's just keep moving, shall we?" said Ron, and Harry saw him glance edgily at Hermione. Alicia sighed. Despite being a git Malfoy might have been right about Hermione being in danger. Maybe even more danger than the muggles themselves.

They set off again, Harry still searching his pockets, even though he knew his wand wasn't there.

They followed the dark path deeper into the wood, still keeping an eye out for Fred, George, and Ginny. They passed a group of goblins who were cackling over a sack of gold that they had undoubtedly won betting on the match, and who seemed quite unperturbed by the trouble at the campsite. Farther still along the path, they walked into a patch of silvery light, and when they looked through the trees, they saw three tall and beautiful veela standing in a clearing, surrounded by a gaggle of young wizards, all of whom were talking very loudly.

"I pull down about a hundred sacks of Galleons a year!" one of them shouted. "I'm a dragon killer for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures."

"No, you're not!" yelled his friend. "You're a dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron… but I'm a vampire hunter, I've killed about ninety so far —"

A third young wizard, whose pimples were visible even by the dim, silvery light of the veela, now cut in, "I'm about to become the youngest ever Minister of Magic, I am."

Harry and Alicia both snorted with laughter. They both recognised the pimply wizard: His name was Stan Shunpike, and he was in fact a conductor on the triple-decker Knight Bus.

"Did I tell you I've invented a broomstick that'll reach Jupiter?" Ron shouted

Alicia bursted out laughing while Hermione rolled her eyes.

" _Honestly_!" said Hermione, and she and Harry grabbed Ron firmly by the arms, wheeled him around, and marched him away. By the time the sounds of the veela and their admirers had faded completely, they were in the very heart of the wood. They seemed to be alone now; everything was much quieter.

Harry looked around. "I reckon we can just wait here, you know. We'll hear anyone coming a mile off."

The words were hardly out of his mouth, when Ludo Bagman emerged from behind a tree right ahead of them.

Even by the feeble light of the three wands, Harry could see that a great change had come over Bagman. He no longer looked buoyant and rosy-faced; there was no more spring in his step. He looked very white and strained.

"Who's that?" he said, blinking down at them, trying to make out their faces. "What are you doing in here, all alone?"

They looked at one another, surprised.

"Well — there's a sort of riot going on," said Ron.

Bagman stared at him.

"What?"

"At the campsite… some people have got hold of a family of Muggles…"

Bagman swore loudly.

"Damn them!" he said, looking quite distracted, and without another word, he Disapparated with a small _pop_!

"Not exactly on top of things, Mr. Bagman, is he?" said Hermione, frowning.

"Wonder what he was doing…?" Alicia muttered

"He was a great Beater, though," said Ron, leading the way off the path into a small clearing, and sitting down on a patch of dry grass at the foot of a tree. "The Wimbourne Wasps won the league three times in a row while he was with them."

He took his small figure of Krum out of his pocket, set it down on the ground, and watched it walk around. Like the real Krum, the model was slightly duck-footed and round-shouldered, much less impressive on his splayed feet than on his broomstick. Harry was listening for noise from the campsite. Everything seemed much quieter; perhaps the riot was over.

"I hope the others are okay," said Hermione after a while.

"They'll be fine," said Ron.

"Imagine if your dad catches Lucius Malfoy," said Harry, sitting down next to Ron and watching the small figure of Krum slouching over the fallen leaves. "He's always said he'd like to get something on him."

"It'd make my life." Alicia muttered

"That'd wipe the smirk off old Draco's face, all right," said Ron.

"Those poor Muggles, though," said Hermione nervously. "What if they can't get them down?"

"They will," said Ron reassuringly. "They'll find a way."

"Mad, though, to do something like that when the whole Ministry of Magic's out here tonight!" said Hermione. "I mean, how do they expect to get away with it? Do you think they've been drinking, or are they just —"

Alicia spun around as Hermione broke off abruptly and looked over her shoulder. Harry and Ron looked quickly around too. It sounded as though someone was staggering toward their clearing. They waited, listening to the sounds of the uneven steps behind the dark trees. But the footsteps came to a sudden halt.

"Hello?" called Harry.

Alicia slammed a hand over his mouth and all three looked at her as she stared at the trees, not removing her hand.

There was silence and Alicia slowly stood up, hardly breathing as she didn't make a noise. Harry got to his feet beside her and peered around the tree. It was too dark to see very far, but the feeling of someone standing not far from them caused both twins to glance at one another wearily.

"Who's there?" Harry spoke again and Alicia shot him an annoyed look.

"What?" he asked

"Some random is in the forest and you're gonna call out when you don't have a wand?" she whispered annoyed "No wonder we end up in trouble so often."

Harry didn't get the chance to answer as, without warning, the silence was rent by a voice unlike any they had heard in the wood; and it uttered, not a panicked shout, but what sounded like a spell.

" _MORSMORDRE_!"

And something vast, green, and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness Harry's eyes had been struggling to penetrate; it flew up over the treetops and into the sky.

"What the…?"

Alicia stared stunned as a shape formed and turned into a colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. As they watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation.

Alicia stared at it shocked and her face fell like no tomorrow as she stared at it. She grabbed Hermione's arm who looked at her with the same understanding.

Suddenly, the wood all around them erupted with screams. All were directed to the new green shining skull in the sky, which had now risen high enough to illuminate the entire wood like some grisly neon sign.

Harry didn't seem to understand the skull for he was scanning the trees again.

"Who's there?" he called again.

"Harry, come on, _move_!" Hermione had seized the collar of his jacket and was tugging him backward.

"What's the matter?" Harry said, startled to see her face so white and terrified.

"We need to leave." Alicia said and pushed on Harry

"It's the Dark Mark, Harry!" Hermione moaned, pulling him as hard as she could. "You-Know-Who's sign!"

" _Voldemort's_ — ?"

"Harry, come _on_!"

Harry turned — Ron was hurriedly scooping up his miniature Krum — the three of them started across the clearing — but before they had taken a few hurried steps, a series of popping noises announced the arrival of twenty wizards, appearing from thin air, surrounding them.

Alicia and Harry whirled around, and in an instant, they registered one fact: Each of these wizards had his wand out, and every wand was pointing right at them, Ron, and Hermione.

Without pausing to think, Harry yelled, "DUCK!"

Alicia went down and Harry seized the other two before pulling them down onto the ground. " _STUPEFY_!" roared twenty voices — there was a blinding series of flashes and Alicia felt the hair on her head ripple as though a powerful wind had swept the clearing. Above them red sparks sounded and flashed dangerously close to them, all of them erupting from the wizards' wands.

"Stop!" yelled a voice Alicia recognised. "STOP! _That's my son_!"

Alicia looked up as the sparks stopped and the wizard in front of them had lowered his wand. Alicia turned to see Mr. Weasley striding toward them, looking terrified.

"Ron — Alicia — Harry," — his voice sounded shaky — "Hermione — are you all right?"

"Out of the way, Arthur," said a cold, curt voice.

It was Mr. Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on them. Alicia stood up and looked at them all as Harry got to his feet beside her. Mr. Crouch's face was taut with rage.

"Which of you did it?" he snapped, his sharp eyes darting between them. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"

"None of us!" Alicia said strongly

"We didn't do that!" said Harry, gesturing up at the skull.

"We didn't do anything!" said Ron, who was rubbing his elbow and looking indignantly at his father. "What did you want to attack us for?"

"Do not lie, sir!" shouted Mr. Crouch. His wand was still pointing directly at Ron, and his eyes were popping — he looked slightly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Barty," whispered a witch in a long woollen dressing gown, "they're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to —"

"Where did the Mark come from, you three?" said Mr. Weasley quickly.

"Over there," said Hermione shakily, pointing at the place where they had heard the voice. "There was someone behind the trees… they shouted words — an incantation —"

"Oh, stood over there, did they?" said Mr. Crouch, turning his popping eyes on Hermione now, disbelief etched all over his face. "Said an incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, missy —"

"We're you're only witnesses as to who really conjured the mark, do you want our help or not!?" Alicia demanded, her voice was strong but her breath was shaky.

She needn't have bothered, none of the Ministry wizards apart from Mr. Crouch seemed to think it remotely likely that Harry, Alicia, Ron, or Hermione had conjured the skull; on the contrary, at Hermione's words, they had all raised their wands again and were pointing in the direction she had indicated, squinting through the dark trees.

"We're too late," said the witch in the woollen dressing gown, shaking her head. "They'll have Disapparated."

"I don't think so," said a wizard with a scrubby brown beard. It was Amos Diggory, Cedric's father. "Our Stunners went right through those trees… There's a good chance we got them…"

"Amos, be careful!" said a few of the wizards warningly as Mr. Diggory squared his shoulders, raised his wand, marched across the clearing, and disappeared into the darkness. Hermione watched him vanish with her hands over her mouth.

A few seconds later, they heard Mr. Diggory shout.

"Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's — but — blimey…"

"You've got someone?" shouted Mr. Crouch, sounding highly disbelieving. "Who? Who is it?"

They heard snapping twigs, the rustling of leaves, and then crunching footsteps as Mr. Diggory reemerged from behind the trees. He was carrying a tiny, limp figure in his arms. Alicia's eyes narrowed and she looked surprised at the same time. It was Winky.

Mr. Crouch did not move or speak as Mr. Diggory deposited his elf on the ground at his feet. The other Ministry wizards were all staring at Mr. Crouch. For a few seconds Crouch remained transfixed, his eyes blazing in his white face as he stared down at Winky. Then he appeared to come to life again.

"This — cannot — be," he said jerkily. "No —"

He moved quickly around Mr. Diggory and strode off toward the place where he had found Winky.

"No point, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory called after him. "There's no one else there."

But Mr. Crouch did not seem prepared to take his word for it. They could hear him moving around and the rustling of leaves as he pushed the bushes aside, searching.

"Bit embarrassing," Mr. Diggory said grimly, looking down at Winky's unconscious form. "Barty Crouch's house-elf… I mean to say…"

"Come off it, Amos," said Mr. Weasley quietly, "you don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand."

"Yeah," said Mr. Diggory, "and she _had_ a wand."

" _What_?" said Mr. Weasley.

"Here, look." Mr. Diggory held up a wand and showed it to Mr. Weasley. "Had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken, for a start. _No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand._ "

Alicia's eyes widened.

Just then there was another _pop,_ and Ludo Bagman Apparated right next to Mr. Weasley. Looking breathless and disorientated, he spun on the spot, goggling upward at the emerald-green skull.

"The Dark Mark!" he panted, almost trampling Winky as he turned inquiringly to his colleagues. "Who did it? Did you get them? Barty! What's going on?"

Mr. Crouch had returned empty-handed. His face was still ghostly white, and his hands and his toothbrush moustache were both twitching.

"Where have you been, Barty?" said Bagman. "Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving you a seat too — gulping gargoyles!" Bagman had just noticed Winky lying at his feet. "What happened to _her_?"

"I have been busy, Ludo," said Mr. Crouch, still talking in the same jerky fashion, barely moving his lips. "And my elf has been stunned."

"Stunned? By you lot, you mean? But why — ?"

Comprehension dawned suddenly on Bagman's round, shiny face; he looked up at the skull, down at Winky, and then at Mr. Crouch.

" _No_!" he said. "Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand, for a start!"

"And she had one," said Mr. Diggory. "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's all right with you, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself."

Crouch gave no sign that he had heard Mr. Diggory, but Mr. Diggory seemed to take his silence for assent. He raised his own wand, pointed it at Winky, and said, " _Rennervate_!"

Winky stirred feebly. Her great brown eyes opened and she blinked several times in a bemused sort of way. Watched by the silent wizards, she raised herself shakily into a sitting position.

She caught sight of Mr. Diggory's feet, and slowly, tremulously, raised her eyes to stare up into his face; then, more slowly still, she looked up into the sky. Harry could see the floating skull reflected twice in her enormous, glassy eyes. She gave a gasp, looked wildly around the crowded clearing, and burst into terrified sobs.

"Elf!" said Mr. Diggory sternly. "Do you know who I am? I'm a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"

Winky began to rock backward and forward on the ground, her breath coming in sharp bursts.

"As you see, elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago," said Mr. Diggory. "And you were discovered moments later, right beneath it! An explanation, if you please!"

"I — I — I is not doing it, sir!" Winky gasped. "I is not knowing how, sir!"

"You were found with a wand in your hand!" barked Mr. Diggory, brandishing it in front of her. And as the wand caught the green light that was filling the clearing from the skull above, Alicia and Harry recognised it.

"Hey — that's mine!" he said as Alicia said "That's Harry's wand."

Everyone in the clearing looked at them before their eyes set on Alicia.

"Excuse me?" said Mr. Diggory, incredulously.

"That's my wand!" said Harry. "I dropped it!"

"You dropped it?" repeated Mr. Diggory in disbelief. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"

"Don't be stupid." Alicia snapped

"Amos, think who you're talking to!" said Mr. Weasley, very angrily. "Is _Harry Potter_ likely to conjure the Dark Mark?"

"Er — of course not," mumbled Mr. Diggory. "Sorry… carried away…"

"I didn't drop it there, anyway," said Harry, jerking his thumb toward the trees beneath the skull. "I missed it right after we got into the wood."

"We noticed it was gone long before we reached this clearing." Alicia turned to Hermione and Ron who both nodded looking at Mr Diggory.

"So," said Mr. Diggory, his eyes hardening as he turned to look at Winky again, cowering at his feet. "You found this wand, eh, elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"

"I is not doing magic with it, sir!" squealed Winky, tears streaming down the sides of her squashed and bulbous nose. "I is… I is… I is just picking it up, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing how!"

"It wasn't her!" said Hermione. She looked very nervous, speaking up in front of all these Ministry wizards, yet determined all the same. "Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeper!" She looked around at Harry and Ron, appealing for their support. "It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?"

"No," said Harry, shaking his head. "It definitely didn't sound like an elf."

"Yeah, it was a human voice," said Ron.

"A man's voice by that." Alicia said strongly

"Well, we'll soon see," growled Mr. Diggory, looking unimpressed. "There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?"

Winky trembled and shook her head frantically, her ears flapping, as Mr. Diggory raised his own wand again and placed it tip to tip with Harry's.

" _Prior Incantato_!" roared Mr. Diggory.

Hermione gasped, horrified, and Alicia let out a long breath as a gigantic serpent-tongued skull erupted from the point where the two wands met, but it was a mere shadow of the green skull high above them; it looked as though it were made of thick grey smoke: the ghost of a spell.

" _Deletrius_!" Mr. Diggory shouted, and the smoky skull vanished in a wisp of smoke.

"So," said Mr. Diggory with a kind of savage triumph, looking down upon Winky, who was still shaking convulsively.

"I is not doing it!" she squealed, her eyes rolling in terror. "I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands, I isn't knowing how!"

" _You've been caught red-handed, elf!_ " Mr. Diggory roared. " _Caught with the guilty wand in your hand_!"

"You're not listening are you." Alicia said not getting annoyed "It was a man who spoke. And who would hold onto the guilty wand?!"

"Amos," said Mr. Weasley loudly, cutting Alicia off before she could get into any more trouble. "think about it… precious few wizards know how to do that spell… Where would she have learned it?"

"Perhaps Amos is suggesting," said Mr. Crouch, cold anger in every syllable, "that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?"

There was a deeply unpleasant silence. Amos Diggory looked horrified.

"Mr. Crouch… not… not at all…"

"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are _least_ likely to conjure that Mark!" barked Mr. Crouch. "Harry Potter — and myself!"

"Coming from the one who tried to stun him." Alicia grumbled, earning a jab in the ribs by Hermione.

"I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?"

"Of course — everyone knows —" muttered Mr. Diggory, looking highly discomforted.

"And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, over a long career, that I despise and detest the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Mr. Crouch shouted, his eyes bulging again.

"Mr. Crouch, I — I never suggested you had anything to do with it!" Amos Diggory muttered again, now reddening behind his scrubby brown beard.

"If you accuse my elf, you accuse me, Diggory!" shouted Mr. Crouch. "Where else would she have learned to conjure it?"

"She — she might've picked it up anywhere —"

"Precisely, Amos," said Mr. Weasley. " _She might have picked it up anywhere…_ Winky?" he said kindly, turning to the elf, but she flinched as though he too was shouting at her. "Where exactly did you find Harry's wand?"

Winky was twisting the hem of her tea towel so violently that it was fraying beneath her fingers.

"I — I is finding it… finding it there, sir…" she whispered, "there… in the trees, sir…"

"You see, Amos?" said Mr. Weasley. "Whoever conjured the Mark could have Disapparated right after they'd done it, leaving Harry's wand behind. A clever thing to do, not using their own wand, which could have betrayed them. And Winky here had the misfortune to come across the wand moments later and pick it up."

"But then, she'd have been only a few feet away from the real culprit!" said Mr. Diggory impatiently. "Elf? Did you see anyone?" Winky began to tremble worse than ever. Her giant eyes flickered from Mr. Diggory, to Ludo Bagman, and onto Mr. Crouch. Then she gulped and said, "I is seeing no one, sir… no one…"

"Amos," said Mr. Crouch curtly, "I am fully aware that, in the ordinary course of events, you would want to take Winky into your department for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her."

Mr. Diggory looked as though he didn't think much of this suggestion at all, but it was clear that Mr. Crouch was such an important member of the Ministry that he did not dare refuse him.

"You may rest assured that she will be punished," Mr. Crouch added coldly.

"M-m-master…" Winky stammered, looking up at Mr. Crouch, her eyes brimming with tears. "M-m-master, p-p-please…"

Mr. Crouch stared back, his face somehow sharpened, each line upon it more deeply etched. There was no pity in his gaze.

"Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible," he said slowly. "I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to sort out the trouble. And I find that she disobeyed me. _This means clothes._ "

"No!" shrieked Winky, prostrating herself at Mr. Crouch's feet. "No, master! Not clothes, not clothes!"

Alicia frowned, she and Harry knew that the only way to turn a house-elf free was to present it with proper garments. It was pitiful to see the way Winky clutched at her tea towel as she sobbed over Mr. Crouch's feet.

"But she was frightened!" Hermione burst out angrily, glaring at Mr. Crouch. "Your elf's scared of heights, and those wizards in masks were levitating people! You can't blame her for wanting to get out of their way!"

Mr. Crouch took a step backward, freeing himself from contact with the elf, whom he was surveying as though she were something filthy and rotten that was contaminating his over-shined shoes.

"I have no use for a house-elf who disobeys me," he said coldly, looking over at Hermione. "I have no use for a servant who forgets what is due to her master, and to her master's reputation."

"You're the cold hearted master who tried to in a sense get her killed." Alicia said, her voice seemed to cut through just as much as ice would.

Winky was crying so hard that her sobs echoed around the clearing. There was a very nasty silence, which was ended by Mr. Weasley, who said quietly, "Well, I think I'll take my lot back to the tent, if nobody's got any objections. Amos, that wand's told us all it can — if Harry could have it back, please —"

Mr. Diggory handed Harry his wand and Harry pocketed it.

"Come on, you four," Mr. Weasley said quietly. Harry grabbed Alicia and pulled her away as she looked strongly like she wanted to shout at Mr Crouch some more. Hermione was no different, she didn't seem to want to move; her eyes were still upon the sobbing elf. "Hermione!" Mr. Weasley said, more urgently. She turned and followed Alicia, Harry and Ron out of the clearing and off through the trees.

"What's going to happen to Winky?" said Hermione, the moment they had left the clearing.

"I don't know," said Mr. Weasley.

"The way they were treating her!" said Hermione furiously. "Mr. Diggory, calling her 'elf' all the time… and Mr. Crouch! He knows she didn't do it and he's still going to sack her! He didn't care how frightened she'd been, or how upset she was — it was like she wasn't even human!"

"Well, she's not," said Ron.

Hermione rounded on him.

"That doesn't mean she hasn't got feelings, Ron. It's disgusting the way —"

"Hermione, I agree with you," said Mr. Weasley quickly, beckoning her on, "but now is not the time to discuss elf rights. I want to get back to the tent as fast as we can. What happened to the others?"

"We don't know." Alicia said, her teeth gritted.

"We lost them in the dark," said Ron. "Dad, why was everyone so uptight about that skull thing?"

"I'll explain everything back at the tent," said Mr. Weasley tensely.

But when they reached the edge of the wood, their progress was impeded. A large crowd of frightened-looking witches and wizards was congregated there, and when they saw Mr. Weasley coming toward them, many of them surged forward.

"What's going on in there?"

"Who conjured it?"

"Arthur — it's not — _Him_?"

"Of course it's not Him," said Mr. Weasley impatiently. "We don't know who it was; it looks like they Disapparated. Now excuse me, please, I want to get to bed."

He led Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione through the crowd and back into the campsite. All was quiet now; there was no sign of the masked wizards, though several ruined tents were still smoking.

Charlie's head was poking out of the boys' tent.

"Dad, what's going on?" he called through the dark. "Fred, George, and Ginny got back okay, but the others —"

"I've got them here," said Mr. Weasley, bending down and entering the tent. Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered after him.

Bill was sitting at the small kitchen table, holding a bedsheet to his arm, which was bleeding profusely. Charlie had a large rip in his shirt, and Percy was sporting a bloody nose. Fred, George, and Ginny looked unhurt, though shaken.

"Did you get them, Dad?" said Bill sharply. "The person who conjured the Mark?"

"No," said Mr. Weasley. "We found Barty Crouch's elf holding Harry's wand, but we're none the wiser about who actually conjured the Mark."

" _What_?" said Bill, Charlie, and Percy together.

"Harry's wand?" said Fred.

" _Mr. Crouch's elf_?" said Percy, sounding thunderstruck.

With some assistance from Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione, Mr. Weasley explained what had happened in the woods. When they had finished their story, Percy swelled indignantly.

"Well, Mr. Crouch is quite right to get rid of an elf like that!" he said. "Running away when he'd expressly told her not to… embarrassing him in front of the whole Ministry… how would that have looked, if she'd been brought up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control —"

"She didn't do anything — she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!" Hermione snapped at Percy, who looked very taken aback. Hermione had always got on fairly well with Percy — better, indeed, than any of the others.

"Hermione, a wizard in Mr. Crouch's position can't afford a house-elf who's going to run amok with a wand!" said Percy pompously, recovering himself.

"She didn't run amok!" shouted Hermione. "She just picked it up off the ground!"

"Look, can someone just explain what that skull thing was?" said Ron impatiently. "It wasn't hurting anyone… Why's it such a big deal?"

"I told you, it's You-Know-Who's symbol, Ron," said Hermione, before anyone else could answer. "I read about it in _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts._ "

"And it hasn't been seen for thirteen years," said Mr. Weasley quietly. "Of course people panicked… it was almost like seeing You-Know-Who back again."

"I don't get it," said Ron, frowning. "I mean… it's still only a shape in the sky…"

"It appeared whenever someone was killed by Voldemort." Alicia said simply and the Weasley's shuddered at her use of the name, Charlie and Bill looking surprised she had done before Mr Weasley continued.

"The terror it inspired… you have no idea, you're too young. Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you're about to find inside…" Mr. Weasley winced. "Everyone's worst fear… the very worst…"

There was silence for a moment. Then Bill, removing the sheet from his arm to check on his cut, said, "Well, it didn't help us tonight, whoever conjured it. It scared the Death Eaters away the moment they saw it. They all Disapparated before we'd got near enough to unmask any of them. We caught the Robertses before they hit the ground, though. They're having their memories modified right now."

"Death Eaters?" said Harry. "What are Death Eaters?" Alicia sighed

"You're the boy who lived, the savour for all wizards and you have such little knowledge in it all." she looked at the roof of the tent "You need to read a book once and a while." Harry looked at her irritatedly

"It's what You-Know-Who's supporters called themselves," said Bill, before Harry could speak. "I think we saw what's left of them tonight — the ones who managed to keep themselves out of Azkaban, anyway."

"We can't prove it was them, Bill," said Mr. Weasley. "Though it probably was," he added hopelessly.

"Yeah, I bet it was!" said Ron suddenly. "Dad, we met Draco Malfoy in the woods, and he as good as told us his dad was one of those nutters in masks! And we all know the Malfoys were right in with You-Know-Who!"

"But what were Voldemort's supporters —" Harry began. Everybody flinched again — like most of the wizarding world, the Weasleys always avoided saying Voldemort's name. "Sorry," said Harry quickly. "What were You-Know-Who's supporters up to, levitating Muggles? I mean, what was the point?"

"The point?" said Mr. Weasley with a hollow laugh. "Harry, that's their idea of fun. Half the Muggle killings back when You- Know-Who was in power were done for fun. I suppose they had a few drinks tonight and couldn't resist reminding us all that lots of them are still at large. A nice little reunion for them," he finished disgustedly.

"But if they _were_ the Death Eaters, why did they Disapparate when they saw the Dark Mark?" said Ron. "They'd have been pleased to see it, wouldn't they?"

"Pleased?" Alicia asked raising her eyebrows "Vol— You-Know-Who was evil Ron, he didn't care for his supporters any more then he did for his enemies."

"Use your brains, Ron," said Bill. "If they really were Death Eaters, they worked very hard to keep out of Azkaban when You-Know-Who lost power, and told all sorts of lies about him forcing them to kill and torture people. I bet they'd be even more frightened than the rest of us to see him come back. They denied they'd ever been involved with him when he lost his powers, and went back to their daily lives… I don't reckon he'd be over-pleased with them, do you?"

"So… whoever conjured the Dark Mark…" said Hermione slowly, "were they doing it to show support for the Death Eaters, or to scare them away?"

"Your guess is as good as ours, Hermione," said Mr. Weasley. "But I'll tell you this… it was only the Death Eaters who ever knew how to conjure it. I'd be very surprised if the person who did it hadn't been a Death Eater once, even if they're not now… Listen, it's very late, and if your mother hears what's happened she'll be worried sick. We'll get a few more hours sleep and then try and get an early Portkey out of here."

Alicia, Hermione and Ginny stayed in the boys tent that night. Not because they weren't still scared but also because Mr Weasley had said so. Harry and Ron were forced to top and tail and Hermione and Ginny took Ron's lower bunk while the twins did the same and Alicia took the last bed.

Deposit this however, she didn't feel tired. Hardly even close despite it being almost three in the morning.

This effect had reminded her of her dream. Voldemort planning on coming to power, killing Bertha Jorkins who was actually missing. Her scar burning because of it. Three days later, Lord Voldemort's mark appears in the sky.

Alicia glanced to where Harry was sleeping. She hadn't had the time to tell Harry yet, though Sirius knew… if he'd received her letter. Would he agree that after these events her dream is something to worry about? Even if he was in hiding, Sirius would be keeping up with the times and news, he'd see what had happened… would he see it before he replied or after though?

As her thoughts kept her awake and the dark mark and her dream coincided together, Charlie managed to fill the tent with snoring. Ron and Harry kicked one another a few times earning in a grunt and the twins above her were no different.

She didn't know what time it was when she fell asleep, but she didn't remember her swirling thoughts calming down long enough for it to happen.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Mr. Weasley woke them after only a few hours sleep. He used magic to pack up the tents, and they left the campsite as quickly as possible, passing Mr. Roberts at the door of his cottage. Mr. Roberts had a strange, dazed look about him, and he waved them off with a vague "Merry Christmas."

"He'll be all right," said Mr. Weasley quietly as they marched off onto the moor. "Sometimes, when a person's memory's modified, it makes him a bit disorientated for a while… and that was a big thing they had to make him forget."

They heard urgent voices as they approached the spot where the Portkeys lay, and when they reached it, they found a great number of witches and wizards gathered around Basil, the keeper of the Portkeys, all clamouring to get away from the campsite as quickly as possible. Mr. Weasley had a hurried discussion with Basil; they joined the queue, and were able to take an old rubber tire back to Stoatshead Hill before the sun had really risen. They walked back through Ottery St. Catchpole and up the damp lane toward the Burrow in the dawn light, talking very little because they were so exhausted, and thinking longingly of their breakfast. As they rounded the corner and the Burrow came into view, a cry echoed along the lane.

"Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!"

Mrs. Weasley, who had evidently been waiting for them in the front yard, came running toward them, still wearing her bedroom slippers, her face pale and strained, a rolled-up copy of the _Daily Prophet_ clutched in her hand.

"Arthur — I've been so worried — _so worried_ —"

She flung her arms around Mr. Weasley's neck, and the _Daily Prophet_ fell out of her limp hand onto the ground. Looking down, Harry and Alicia saw the headline: _SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP_ , complete with a twinkling black-and-white photograph of the Dark Mark over the treetops.

"You're all right," Mrs. Weasley muttered distractedly, releasing Mr. Weasley and staring around at them all with red eyes

"One guess she grabs the twins." Alicia whispered to Harry

"You're alive… Oh _boys…_ "

To everybody's surprise, she seized Fred and George and pulled them both into such a tight hug that their heads banged together. Harry gave Alicia an impressed look and she grinned.

" _Ouch_! Mum — you're strangling us —"

"I shouted at you before you left!" Mrs. Weasley said, starting to sob. "It's all I've been thinking about! What if You-Know-Who had got you, and the last thing I ever said to you was that you didn't get enough O.W.L.s? Oh Fred… George…"

"Come on, now, Molly, we're all perfectly okay," said Mr. Weasley soothingly, prising her off the twins and leading her back toward the house. "Bill," he added in an undertone, "pick up that paper, I want to see what it says…"

When they were all crammed into the tiny kitchen, and Hermione had made Mrs. Weasley a cup of very strong tea, into which Mr. Weasley insisted on pouring a shot of Ogdens Old Firewhiskey, Bill handed his father the newspaper. Mr. Weasley scanned the front page while Percy looked over his shoulder.

"I knew it," said Mr. Weasley heavily. " _Ministry blunders…_ _culprits not apprehended…_ _lax security… Dark wizards running unchecked…_ _national disgrace…_ Who wrote this? Ah… of course… Rita Skeeter."

"That woman's got it in for the Ministry of Magic!" said Percy furiously. "Last week she was saying we're wasting our time quibbling about cauldron thickness, when we should be stamping out vampires! As if it wasn't _specifically_ stated in paragraph twelve of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans —"

"Do us a favour, Perce," said Bill, yawning, "and shut up."

"I'm mentioned," said Mr. Weasley, his eyes widening behind his glasses as he reached the bottom of the _Daily Prophet_ article.

"Where?" spluttered Mrs. Weasley, choking on her tea and whiskey. "If I'd seen that, I'd have known you were alive!"

"Not by name," said Mr. Weasley. "Listen to this: _'If the terrified wizards and witches who waited breathlessly for news at the edge of the wood expected reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sadly disappointed. A Ministry official emerged some time after the appearance of the Dark Mark alleging that nobody had been hurt, but refusing to give any more information. Whether this statement will be enough to quash the rumours that several bodies were removed from the woods an hour later, remains to be seen.'_ Oh really," said Mr. Weasley in exasperation, handing the paper to Percy. "Nobody _was_ hurt. What was I supposed to say? _Rumours that several bodies were removed from the woods…_ well, there certainly will be rumours now she's printed that." He heaved a deep sigh. "Molly, I'm going to have to go into the office; this is going to take some smoothing over."

"I'll come with you, Father," said Percy importantly. "Mr. Crouch will need all hands on deck. And I can give him my cauldron report in person."

He bustled out of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley looked most upset.

"Arthur, you're supposed to be on holiday! This hasn't got anything to do with your office; surely they can handle this without you?"

"I've got to go, Molly," said Mr. Weasley. "I've made things worse. I'll just change into my robes and I'll be off…"

"Mrs. Weasley," said Harry suddenly, unable to contain himself, "Hedwig hasn't arrived with a letter for me, has she?"

"Or Noel?" Alicia said earning a surprised look from Harry

"Hedwig, dear?" said Mrs. Weasley distractedly. "No… no, there hasn't been any post at all."

Ron and Hermione looked curiously at both Alicia and Harry. With a meaningful look at both of them and a glance at Alicia Harry said, "All right if I go and dump my stuff in your room, Ron?"

"Yeah… think I will too," said Ron at once. "Alicia? Hermione?"

"Yes," they chorused quickly, and the three of them marched out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Alicia however was stopped by the twins.

"What?" she asked

"The gold?" they asked

"What gold?"

"From Bagman."

"What about it?"

"Where is it?" Alicia grabbed her rucksack from her back and rummaged through it for a minute "Huh…?" she muttered looking into the bag "Don't know." she shrugged. The twins looked anything but happy and left her standing there confused.

She shook her head however and quickly moved up the stairs to Ron's room getting there just as Ron was closing the door, he let her in before doing so.

"What's up, Harry?" said Ron, the moment they had closed the door of the attic room behind them.

"There's something I haven't told you," Harry said. "On Saturday morning, I woke up with my scar hurting again."

Hermione gasped and started making suggestions at once, mentioning a number of reference books, and everybody from Albus Dumbledore to Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts nurse. Ron simply looked dumbstruck.

"But — he wasn't there, was he? You-Know-Who? I mean — last time your scar kept hurting, he was at Hogwarts, wasn't he?"

"I'm sure he wasn't on Privet Drive," said Harry. "But I was dreaming about him… him and Peter — you know, Wormtail. I can't remember all of it now, but they were plotting to kill… someone."

"It was only a dream," said Ron bracingly. "Just a nightmare."

"Yeah, but was it, though?" said Harry, turning to look out of the window at the brightening sky.

Alicia had suddenly begun to pace, she kept glancing at Harry and her nail was in her mouth as she bit it. She was nervously worried now. Harry had had her dream. He had the same dream, at the same time and his scar hurt afterwards.

"It's weird, isn't it?… My scar hurts, and three days later the Death Eaters are on the march, and Voldemort's sign's up in the sky again."

"Don't — say — his — name!" Ron hissed through gritted teeth.

"And remember what Professor Trelawney said?" Harry went on, ignoring Ron. "At the end of last year?"

Professor Trelawney was their Divination teacher at Hogwarts. Hermione's terrified look vanished as she let out a derisive snort.

"Oh Harry, you aren't going to pay attention to anything that old fraud says?"

"You weren't there," said Harry. "You didn't hear her. This time was different. I told you, she went into a trance — a real one. And she said the Dark Lord would rise again… _greater and more terrible than ever before…_ and he'd manage it because his servant was going to go back to him… and that night Wormtail escaped."

There was a silence in which Ron fidgeted absentmindedly with a hole in his Chudley Cannons bedspread.

"Why were you asking if Hedwig had come, Harry?" Hermione asked. "Are you expecting a letter?"

"I told Sirius about my scar," said Harry, shrugging. "I'm waiting for his answer."

"Good thinking!" said Ron, his expression clearing. "I bet Sirius'll know what to do!"

"I hoped he'd get back to me quickly," said Harry.

"What about you Alicia?" Hermione asked "Why do you want Noel?" all three looked at her and she stopped pacing like a deer caught in the headlights. She heard Hermione and Ron's worries… did she want to add to them?

"I sent him a letter too." she shrugged, but she bit her lip as she held back from telling them.

Harry noticed.

"But we don't know where Sirius is… he could be in Africa or somewhere, couldn't he?" said Hermione reasonably. "Neither Noel or Hedwig's going to manage _that_ journey in a few days."

"Yeah, I know," said Harry, but there was a leaden feeling in his stomach as he looked out of the window at the Hedwig-free sky.

"Come and have a game of Quidditch in the orchard, Harry," said Ron. "Come on — three on three, Bill and Charlie and Fred and George will play… You can try out the Wronski Feint… Alicia you can join in too, ref or something first?" he offered her

"Ron," said Hermione, in an I-don't-think-you're-being-very-sensitive sort of voice, "Neither Alicia or Harry want to play Quidditch right now… They're worried, and tired. We all need to go to bed…"

"Yeah, I want to play Quidditch," said Harry suddenly. "Hang on, I'll get my Firebolt."

"I need a distraction." Alicia nodded, managing a smile

"Come on Alicia." and Harry dragged her from the room as Hermione left, muttering something that sounded very much like " _Boys._ "

"What was that?" Harry whispered as he pulled Alicia into a closet. Alicia sighed and looked away

"Well…" she began "Don't freak out, but… I don't believe that was an ordinary dream."

"Why not?" Harry wondered

"Cause I had it too." she whispered ever so silently, glancing at the door. Harry looked at her shocked

"And they're not planning on killing someone they're planning on killing _you._ " she panicked "If we had the same dream how is that not weird!? My scar hurt also and I sent a letter to Sirius, but I told him about my dream not just about my scar."

"When did you have it?" Harry asked

"Saturday night!" Alicia whisper-shouted, her voice hoarse with worry. "Remember what Dumbledore said? I don't have a connection to Voldemort, I have a connection to you, but I've never had the same dream as you. In fact the only time I've ever felt something you have was when Voldemort was involved."

"So you think this was some… vision?" Harry asked

"I don't know what it was." Alicia mumbled "But after last night…" she took a deep breath and Harry looked at her "I feel like this year's not going to be any different to the last three."

* * *

Neither Mr. Weasley nor Percy was at home much over the following week. Both left the house each morning before the rest of the family got up, and returned well after dinner every night.

"It's been an absolute uproar," Percy told them importantly the Sunday evening before they were due to return to Hogwarts. "I've been putting out fires all week. People keep sending Howlers, and of course, if you don't open a Howler straight away, it explodes. Scorch marks all over my desk and my best quill reduced to cinders."

"Why are they all sending Howlers?" asked Ginny, who was mending her copy of _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ with Spellotape on the rug in front of the living room fire.

"Complaining about security at the World Cup," said Percy. "They want compensation for their ruined property. Mundungus Fletcher's put in a claim for a twelve-bedroomed tent with en-suite Jacuzzi, but I've got his number. I know for a fact he was sleeping under a cloak propped on sticks."

Mrs. Weasley glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. It was a grand clock, and wasn't for telling the time. It had nine golden hands, and each of them was engraved with one of the Weasley family's names. There were no numerals around the face, but descriptions of where each family member might be. "Home," "school," and "work" were there, but there was also "traveling," "lost," "hospital," "prison," and, in the position where the number twelve would be on a normal clock, "mortal peril."

Eight of the hands were currently pointing to the "home" position, but Mr. Weasley's, which was the longest, was still pointing to "work." Mrs. Weasley sighed.

"Your father hasn't had to go into the office on weekends since the days of You-Know-Who," she said. "They're working him far too hard. His dinner's going to be ruined if he doesn't come home soon."

"Well, Father feels he's got to make up for his mistake at the match, doesn't he?" said Percy. "If truth be told, he was a tad unwise to make a public statement without clearing it with his Head of Department first —"

"Don't you dare blame your father for what that wretched Skeeter woman wrote!" said Mrs. Weasley, flaring up at once.

"If Dad hadn't said anything, old Rita would just have said it was disgraceful that nobody from the Ministry had commented," said Bill, who was playing chess with Ron. "Rita Skeeter never makes anyone look good. Remember, she interviewed all the Gringotts' Charm Breakers once, and called me 'a long-haired pillock'?"

"Well, it _is_ a bit long, dear," said Mrs. Weasley gently. "If you'd just let me —"

" _No,_ Mum."

Rain lashed against the living room window. Hermione was immersed in _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4,_ copies of which Mrs. Weasley had bought for her, Harry, Alicia, and Ron in Diagon Alley. Charlie was darning a fireproof balaclava. Alicia had another of their school books, her wand in her hand in which was was having around in fashionable ways, practicing. Harry was polishing his Firebolt, the broomstick servicing kit Hermione had given him for his thirteenth birthday open at his feet. Fred and George were sitting in a far corner, quills out, talking in whispers, their heads bent over a piece of parchment.

"What are you two up to?" said Mrs. Weasley sharply, her eyes on the twins.

"Homework," said Fred vaguely.

"Don't be ridiculous, you're still on holiday," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Yeah, we've left it a bit late," said George.

"Since when do the twins do homework?" Alicia muttered more to herself than anyone as her eyes didn't move from her book. Mrs Weasley unfortunately heard her.

"You're not by any chance writing out a new _order form,_ are you?" said Mrs. Weasley shrewdly. "You wouldn't be thinking of restarting Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, by any chance?"

"Now, Mum," said Fred, looking up at her, a pained look on his face. "If the Hogwarts Express crashed tomorrow, and George and I died, how would you feel to know that the last thing we ever heard from you was an unfounded accusation?"

Everyone laughed, even Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh your father's coming!" she said suddenly, looking up at the clock again.

Mr. Weasley's hand had suddenly spun from "work" to "traveling"; a second later it had shuddered to a halt on "home" with the others, and they heard him calling from the kitchen.

"Coming, Arthur!" called Mrs. Weasley, hurrying out of the room.

A few moments later, Mr. Weasley came into the warm living room carrying his dinner on a tray. He looked completely exhausted.

"Well, the fat's really in the fire now," he told Mrs. Weasley as he sat down in an armchair near the hearth and toyed unenthusiastically with his somewhat shrivelled cauliflower. "Rita Skeeter's been ferreting around all week, looking for more Ministry mess-ups to report. And now she's found out about poor old Bertha going missing, so that'll be the headline in the _Prophet_ tomorrow. I _told_ Bagman he should have sent someone to look for her ages ago."

"Mr. Crouch has been saying it for weeks and weeks," said Percy swiftly.

"Mr Crouch can do _no_ wrong." Alicia said mockingly to Percy who glared at her. The twins snickered.

"Crouch is very lucky Rita hasn't found out about Winky," said Mr. Weasley irritably. "There'd be a week's worth of headlines in his house-elf being caught holding the wand that conjured the Dark Mark."

"I thought we were all agreed that that elf, while irresponsible, did _not_ conjure the Mark?" said Percy hotly.

"If you ask me, Mr. Crouch is very lucky no one at the _Daily Prophet_ knows how mean he is to elves!" said Hermione angrily.

"Now look here, Hermione!" said Percy. "A high-ranking Ministry official like Mr. Crouch deserves unswerving obedience from his servants —"

"His _slave,_ you mean!" said Hermione, her voice rising passionately, "because he didn't _pay_ Winky, did he?"

"I think you'd all better go upstairs and check that you've packed properly!" said Mrs. Weasley, breaking up the argument. "Come on now, all of you…"

Alicia slammed her book shut, pocketed her wand and moved from the room, Harry repacked his broomstick servicing kit, put his Firebolt over his shoulder, and followed her upstairs with Ron. The rain sounded even louder at the top of the house, accompanied by loud whistlings and moans from the wind, not to mention sporadic howls from the ghoul who lived in the attic.

Alicia put her book in her trunk and then moved up to Ron's room, not wanting to return to Percy and his adoration for Mr Crouch.

Pigwidgeon began twittering and zooming around his cage when they entered. The sight of the half-packed trunks seemed to have sent him into a frenzy of excitement.

"Bung him some Owl Treats," said Ron, throwing a packet across to Harry. "It might shut him up."

"He's just energetic." Alicia smiled as Harry poked a few Owl Treats through the bars of Pigwidgeon's cage, then turned to his trunk. Hedwig's cage stood next to it, still empty.

"It's been over a week," Harry said, looking at Hedwig's deserted perch. "Ron, you don't reckon Sirius has been caught, do you?"

"Nah, it would've been in the _Daily Prophet,_ " said Ron. "The Ministry would want to show they'd caught _someone,_ wouldn't they?"

"Yeah, I suppose…"

"And remember Noel's there too. Sirius can't risk two owls leaving him at once, let alone a day after they arrive." Alicia said "That'd definitely get him caught."

"I guess…"

"Look, here's the stuff Mum got for you in Diagon Alley. And she's got some gold out of your vault for you… and she's washed all your socks."

He heaved a pile of parcels onto Harry's camp bed and dropped the money bag and a load of socks next to it. Harry started unwrapping the shopping. Apart from _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4,_ by Miranda Goshawk, he had a handful of new quills, a dozen rolls of parchment, and refills for his potion-making kit — he had been running low on spine of lionfish and essence of belladonna. He was just piling underwear into his cauldron when Ron made a loud noise of disgust behind him.

"What is _that_ supposed to be?"

He was holding up something that looked to Harry like a long, maroon velvet dress. It had a moldy-looking lace frill at the collar and matching lace cuffs.

Alicia saw it and bursted out laughing.

There was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Weasley entered, carrying an armful of freshly laundered Hogwarts robes.

"Here you are," she said, sorting them into two piles. "Now, mind you pack them properly so they don't crease."

"Mum, you've given me Ginny's new dress," said Ron, handing it out to her.

"Of course I haven't," said Mrs. Weasley. "That's for you. Dress robes."

" _What_?" said Ron, looking horror-struck he looked at Alicia who had her hands over her mouth and doing a terrible job at hiding her laughter.

"Dress robes!" repeated Mrs. Weasley. "It says on your school list that you're supposed to have dress robes this year… robes for formal occasions."

"You've got to be kidding," said Ron in disbelief. "I'm not wearing that, no way."

"Everyone wears them, Ron!" said Mrs. Weasley crossly. "They're all like that! Your father's got some for smart parties!"

"I'll go starkers before I put that on," said Ron stubbornly.

"Don't be so silly," said Mrs. Weasley. "You've got to have dress robes, they're on your list! I got some for Harry too… show him, Harry…"

In some trepidation, Harry opened the last parcel on his camp bed. It wasn't as bad as he had expected, however; his dress robes didn't have any lace on them at all — in fact, they were more or less the same as his school ones, except that they were bottle green instead of black.

"I thought they'd bring out the colour of your eyes, dear," said Mrs. Weasley fondly.

"Well, they're okay!" said Ron angrily, looking at Harry's robes. "Why couldn't I have some like that?"

"Because… well, I had to get yours secondhand, and there wasn't a lot of choice!" said Mrs. Weasley, flushing.

Harry looked away. He would willingly have split all the money in his Gringotts vault with the Weasleys, but he knew they would never take it.

"I'm never wearing them," Ron was saying stubbornly. "Never."

"Fine," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "Go naked. And, Harry, make sure you get a picture of him. Goodness knows I could do with a laugh." And she left the room, slamming the door behind her. There was a funny spluttering noise from behind them. Pigwidgeon was choking on an overlarge Owl Treat.

"Why is everything I own rubbish?" said Ron furiously, striding across the room to unstick Pigwidgeon's beak.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

She was standing outside a door, it opened and she walked in, ignoring everyone, though the faces were slightly blurred, as though looking through someone's eyes who needed glasses. A wand was stretched out before her, and then she stood in the kitchen, facing a man who looked as though he was waking up for the first time, having been foggy within his mind.

He looked at her and suddenly sank to his knees, bowing as far low as he could. His mouth moved but no sound came out and as he looked up the fogginess vanished and his face shone through everything else. He nodded once and looked as though he'd been offered the highest honour. He then grinned maliciously.

Alicia opened her eyes and stared at the celling. That was strange…

* * *

There was a definite end-of-the-holidays gloom in the air next morning. Alicia was up before many of the others, repacking her suitcase by the time Hermione was up and down for breakfast before she saw any of the boys.

Heavy rain was still splattering against the window as she read one of the books she was keeping out for the train ride. And then suddenly the fire behind her turned green and a voice sounded. Alicia jumped.

"Good Morning Molly." Amos Diggery's head had appeared in the fire.

"Amos," Mrs Weasley greeted "This is a surprise."

"I can't chat unfortunately Molly, I need Arthur, immediately."

"Oh yes." and she disappeared.

Alicia sat there awkwardly as Amos' head looked around the kitchen. Alicia heard the boys thundering their way down the stairs when Mrs Weasley's voice cut them off with a shout.

"Arthur!" she called up the staircase. "Arthur! Urgent message from the Ministry!"

The two were in the kitchen quickly and leaning over the fire. Alicia tried not to appear as though she was listening before Mrs Weasley began to bustle around for parchment and a quil when Harry, Ron, Fred and George all walked in.

"I've got a quill here somewhere!" Mrs Weasley muttered anxiously while Mr. Weasley bending over the fire.

"… Muggle neighbours heard bangs and shouting, so they went and called those what-d'you-call-'ems — please-men."

"Policemen." Alicia said

"Thank you." Amos said, he seemed to do a double take before continuing "Arthur, you've got to get over there —"

"Here!" said Mrs. Weasley breathlessly, pushing a piece of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a crumpled quill into Mr. Weasley's hands.

"— it's a real stroke of luck I heard about it," said Mr. Diggory's head. "I had to come into the office early to send a couple of owls, and I found the Improper Use of Magic lot all setting off — if Rita Skeeter gets hold of this one, Arthur —"

"What does Mad-Eye say happened?" asked Mr. Weasley, unscrewing the ink bottle, loading up his quill, and preparing to take notes.

Mr. Diggory's head rolled its eyes.

"Says he heard an intruder in his yard. Says he was creeping toward the house, but was ambushed by his dustbins."

"What did the dustbins do?" asked Mr. Weasley, scribbling frantically.

"Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere, as far as I can tell," said Mr. Diggory. "Apparently one of them was still rocketing around when the please-men turned up —"

"Policemen." Alicia said again before putting her spoon into her mouth.

Mr. Weasley groaned.

"And what about the intruder?"

"Arthur, you know Mad-Eye," said Mr. Diggory's head, rolling its eyes again. "Someone creeping into his yard in the dead of night? More likely there's a very shell-shocked cat wandering around somewhere, covered in potato peelings. But if the Improper Use of Magic lot get their hands on Mad-Eye, he's had it — think of his record — we've got to get him off on a minor charge, something in your department — what are exploding dustbins worth?"

"Might be a caution," said Mr. Weasley, still writing very fast, his brow furrowed. "Mad-Eye didn't use his wand? He didn't actually attack anyone?"

"I'll bet he leapt out of bed and started jinxing everything he could reach through the window," said Mr. Diggory, "but they'll have a job proving it, there aren't any casualties."

"All right, I'm off," Mr. Weasley said, and he stuffed the parchment with his notes on it into his pocket and dashed out of the kitchen again.

Mr. Diggory's head looked around at Mrs. Weasley.

"Sorry about this, Molly," it said, more calmly, "bothering you so early and everything… but Arthur's the only one who can get Mad-Eye off, and Mad-Eye's supposed to be starting his new job today. Why he had to choose last night…"

"Never mind, Amos," said Mrs. Weasley. "Sure you won't have a bit of toast or anything before you go?"

"Oh go on, then," said Mr. Diggory.

Mrs. Weasley took a piece of buttered toast from a stack on the kitchen table, put it into the fire tongs, and transferred it into Mr. Diggory's mouth.

"Fanks," he said in a muffled voice, and then, with a small _pop,_ vanished.

Mr Weasley was calling hurried goodbyes to everyone else in the house, Billy, Charlie, Percy, Hermione and Ginny who were still upstairs. Within five minutes, he was back in the kitchen, his robes on the right way now, dragging a comb through his hair.

"I'd better hurry — you have a good term, boys, Alicia," said Mr. Weasley to Alicia, Harry, Ron, and the twins, fastening a cloak over his shoulders and preparing to Disapparate. "Molly, are you going to be all right taking the kids to King's Cross?"

"Of course I will," she said. "You just look after Mad-Eye, we'll be fine."

As Mr. Weasley vanished, Bill and Charlie entered the kitchen.

"Did someone say Mad-Eye?" Bill asked. "What's he been up to now?

"He says someone tried to break into his house last night," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Mad-Eye Moody?" said George thoughtfully, spreading marmalade on his toast. "Isn't he that nutter —"

"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," said Mrs. Weasley sternly.

"Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs, doesn't he?" said Fred quietly as Mrs. Weasley left the room. "Birds of a feather…"

"Moody was a great wizard in his time," said Bill.

"He's an old friend of Dumbledore's, isn't he?" said Charlie.

"Dumbledore's not what you'd call _normal,_ though, is he?" said Fred. "I mean, I know he's a genius and everything…"

"Who _is_ Mad-Eye?" asked Harry.

"Again, you need to pick a book up." Alicia said with a grin

"He's retired, used to work at the Ministry," said Charlie. "I met him once when Dad took me into work with him. He was an Auror — one of the best… a Dark wizard catcher," he added, seeing Harry's blank look. "Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him. He made himself loads of enemies, though… the families of people he caught, mainly… and I heard he's been getting really paranoid in his old age. Doesn't trust anyone anymore. Sees Dark wizards everywhere."

Bill and Charlie decided to come and see everyone off at King's Cross station, but Percy, apologising most profusely, said that he really needed to get to work.

"I just can't justify taking more time off at the moment," he told them. "Mr. Crouch is really starting to rely on me."

"Yeah, you know what, Percy?" said George seriously. "I reckon he'll know your name soon."

Mrs. Weasley had braved the telephone in the village post office to order three ordinary Muggle taxis to take them into London.

"Arthur tried to borrow Ministry cars for us," Mrs. Weasley whispered to Alicia and Harry as they stood in the rain-washed yard, watching the taxi drivers heaving six heavy Hogwarts trunks into their cars. "But there weren't any to spare… Oh dear, they don't look happy, do they?"

The twins shared a look, neither of them wanted to tell Mrs. Weasley that Muggle taxi drivers rarely transported overexcited owls, and Pigwidgeon was making an earsplitting racket. Nor did it help that a number of Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks went off unexpectedly when Fred's trunk sprang open, causing the driver carrying it to yell with fright and pain as Crookshanks clawed his way up the man's leg.

The journey was uncomfortable, owing to the fact that they were jammed in the back of the taxis with their trunks. Crookshanks took quite a while to recover from the fireworks, and by the time they entered London, Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all severely scratched. They were very relieved to get out at King's Cross, even though the rain was coming down harder than ever, and they got soaked carrying their trunks across the busy road and into the station.

As this was their forth time doing it, or attempting as one year had failed, getting onto platform nine and three-quarters was easy by now. It was a simple matter of walking straight through the apparently solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. The only tricky part was doing this in an unobtrusive way, so as to avoid attracting Muggle attention. They did it in groups today; Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione (the most conspicuous, since they were accompanied by Pigwidgeon and Crookshanks) went first; they leaned casually against the barrier, chatting unconcernedly, and slid sideways through it… and as they did so, platform nine and three-quarters materialised in front of them.

The Hogwarts Express, a gleaming scarlet steam engine, was already there, clouds of steam billowing from it, through which the many Hogwarts students and parents on the platform appeared like dark ghosts. Pigwidgeon became noisier than ever in response to the hooting of many owls through the mist. Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione set off to find seats, and were soon stowing their luggage in a compartment halfway along the train. They then hopped back down onto the platform to say good-bye to Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie.

"I might be seeing you all sooner than you think," said Charlie, grinning, as he hugged Ginny good-bye.

"Why?" said Fred keenly.

"You'll see," said Charlie. "Just don't tell Percy I mentioned it… it's 'classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it,' after all."

"Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year," said Bill, hands in his pockets, looking almost wistfully at the train.

"You know," Alicia began "I want to join the ministry, just so I'm kept in the loop with these annoying hint droppers." she pointed to Charlie irritated and caused a couple to chuckle at her.

" _Why_?" said George impatiently.

"You're going to have an interesting year," said Bill, his eyes twinkling. "I might even get time off to come and watch a bit of it…"

"A bit of _what_?" said Ron as Alicia threw her hands in the air

"Will you all shut up if you're not gonna tell us?" she snapped annoyed.

But at that moment, the whistle blew, and Mrs. Weasley chivvied them toward the train doors.

"Thanks for having us to stay, Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione as they climbed on board, closed the door, and leaned out of the window to talk to her.

"Yeah, thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry.

"Until next time." Alicia waved

"Oh it was my pleasure, dears," said Mrs. Weasley. "I'd invite you for Christmas, but… well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with… one thing and another."

"Mum!" said Ron irritably. "What d'you three know that we don't?"

"A lot apparently." Alicia ground her teeth.

"You'll find out this evening, I expect," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling. "It's going to be very exciting — mind you, I'm very glad they've changed the rules —"

"What rules?" said Harry, Ron, Fred, and George together.

"I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will tell you… Now, behave, won't you? _Won't_ you, Fred? And you, George?"

The pistons hissed loudly and the train began to move.

"Tell us what's happening at Hogwarts!" Fred bellowed out of the window as Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie sped away from them. "What rules are they changing?"

But Mrs. Weasley only smiled and waved. Before the train had rounded the corner, she, Bill, and Charlie had Disapparated.

"God I hate people like that." Alicia huffed "That's all I'm going to think about the whole way there now."

"What?" Fred asked

"Exactly!?" she snapped.

She, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went back to their compartment. The thick rain splattering the windows made it very difficult to see out of them. Ron undid his trunk, pulled out his maroon dress robes, and flung them over Pigwidgeon's cage to muffle his hooting.

"Bagman wanted to tell us what's happening at Hogwarts," he said grumpily, sitting down next to Harry. "At the World Cup, remember? But my own mother won't say. Wonder what —"

"Shh!" Hermione whispered suddenly, pressing her finger to her lips and pointing toward the compartment next to theirs. Alicia was already leaning hard on the wall as Harry and Ron listened, and heard a familiar drawling voice drifting in through the open door.

"… Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore — the man's such a Mudblood-lover — and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually _learn_ them, not just the defence rubbish we do…"

Hermione got up, tiptoed to the compartment door, and slid it shut, blocking out Malfoy's voice.

"So he thinks Durmstrang would have suited him, does he?" she said angrily. "I wish he _had_ gone, then we wouldn't have to put up with him."

"Durmstrang's another wizarding school?" said Harry.

"Yes," said Hermione and Alicia sniffily

"And it's got a horrible reputation. According to _An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe,_ it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts."

"I think I read somewhere that they're own headmaster was a Death Eater or something…" Alicia muttered

"I think I've heard of it," said Ron vaguely. "Where is it? What country?"

"Well, nobody knows, do they?" said Hermione, raising her eyebrows.

"Er — why not?" said Harry.

"There's traditionally been a lot of rivalry between all the magic schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons like to conceal their whereabouts so nobody can steal their secrets," said Hermione matter-of-factly.

"Come off it," said Ron, starting to laugh. "Durmstrang's got to be about the same size as Hogwarts — how are you going to hide a great big castle?"

"Hogwarts is hidden." Alicia shrugged

"No it's not." Ron disagreed and Alicia looked at Hermione

"Hogwarts _is_ hidden," said Hermione, in surprise. "Everyone knows that… well, everyone who's read _Hogwarts, A History,_ anyway."

"Just you two, then," said Ron. "So go on — how d'you hide a place like Hogwarts?"

"It's bewitched," said Hermione. "If a Muggle looks at it, all they see is a mouldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying danger, do not enter, unsafe."

"So Durmstrang'll just look like a ruin to an outsider too?"

"Maybe," said Hermione, shrugging, "or it might have Muggle-repelling charms on it, like the World Cup stadium. And to keep foreign wizards from finding it, they'll have made it Unplottable —"

"Come again?"

"How do you two survive?" Alicia sighed "It basically means you can't put a location on it."

"Huh?"

"Well, you can enchant a building so it's impossible to plot on a map, can't you?"

"Er… if you say so," said Harry.

"But I think Durmstrang must be somewhere in the far north," said Hermione thoughtfully. "Somewhere very cold, because they've got fur capes as part of their uniforms."

"Ah, think of the possibilities," said Ron dreamily. "It would've been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident… Shame his mother likes him…"

The rain became heavier and heavier as the train moved farther north. The sky was so dark and the windows so steamy that the lanterns were lit by midday. The lunch trolley came rattling along the corridor, and Harry bought a large stack of Cauldron Cakes for them to share.

Several of their friends looked in on them as the afternoon progressed, including Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom, a round-faced, extremely forgetful boy who had been brought up by his formidable witch of a grandmother. Seamus was still wearing his Ireland rosette. Some of its magic seemed to be wearing off now; it was still squeaking " _Troy — Mullet — Moran_!" but in a very feeble and exhausted sort of way. After half an hour or so, Hermione, growing tired of the endless Quidditch talk, buried herself once more in _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4,_ and started trying to learn a Summoning Charm.

Neville listened jealously to the others' conversation as they relived the Cup match.

"Gran didn't want to go," he said miserably. "Wouldn't buy tickets. It sounded amazing though."

"It was," said Ron. "Look at this, Neville…"

He rummaged in his trunk up in the luggage rack and pulled out the miniature figure of Viktor Krum.

"Oh _wow,_ " said Neville enviously as Ron tipped Krum onto his pudgy hand.

"We saw him right up close, as well," said Ron. "We were in the Top Box —"

"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley."

Draco Malfoy had appeared in the doorway as he usually did on the rides to Hogwarts. Behind him stood Crabbe and Goyle, his enormous, thuggish cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot during the summer. Evidently they had overheard the conversation through the compartment door, which Dean and Seamus had left ajar.

"Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," said Harry coolly.

"Weasley… what is _that_?" said Malfoy, pointing at Pigwidgeon's cage. A sleeve of Ron's dress robes was dangling from it, swaying with the motion of the train, the moldy lace cuff very obvious.

Ron made to stuff the robes out of sight, but Malfoy was too quick for him; he seized the sleeve and pulled.

"Look at this!" said Malfoy in ecstasy, holding up Ron's robes and showing Crabbe and Goyle, "Weasley, you weren't thinking of _wearing_ these, were you? I mean — they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety…"

"Eat dung, Malfoy!" said Ron, the same colour as the dress robes as he snatched them back out of Malfoy's grip. Malfoy howled with derisive laughter; Crabbe and Goyle guffawed stupidly.

"So… going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, you know… you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won…"

"What are you talking about?" snapped Ron.

" _Are you going to enter_?" Malfoy repeated. "I suppose _you_ will, Potter? Evans?" Alicia hardly even raised a brow "You never miss a chance to show off, do you?"

"Either explain what you're on about or go away, Malfoy," said Hermione testily, over the top of _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4._

A gleeful smile spread across Malfoy's pale face.

"Don't tell me you don't _know_?" he said delightedly. "You've got a father and brother at the Ministry and you don't even _know_? My God, _my_ father told me about it ages ago… heard it from Cornelius Fudge."

"Remember the fact that it's supposed to be a surprise." Alicia said simply

"But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry… Maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley… yes… they probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him…"

"I wonder Malfoy, do you know what it involves?" Alicia said with a smile and everyone looked at her confused. "I don't think you're mature enough to deal with that sort of information I guess." Malfoy looked at her irritatedly as Alicia sighed "Daddy must think you're too naive to handle it."

"What do you know about it Evans?" Malfoy snapped

"Sorry Malfoy, if your own father wont tell you about it, then I guess it's not my place to do so either." and Alicia stood up before pushing Malfoy into his goons and slamming the compartment door closed with a glare.

"What was that?" Neville questioned

"Bullshit."

"How on earth did you learn to do that?" Dean wondered

"Well, Ron's brother said we'd see him soon. As far as I know Charlie work's with dragons, just kinda played it by ear and pretending I know we were having dragons at Hogwarts." Alicia shrugged "I'm great at bullshitting I know information." she grinned

"That was brilliant." Seamus agreed as Alicia shrugged and sat back down.

"The git… making it look like he knows everything and we don't…" Ron snarled. " ' _Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry._ '… Dad could've got a promotion any time… he just likes it where he is…"

"Of course he does," said Hermione quietly. "Don't let Malfoy get to you, Ron —"

"Him! Get to me!? As if!" said Ron, picking up one of the remaining Cauldron Cakes and squashing it into a pulp.

Alicia and Hermione shared a look.

"Alicia show me this summoning charm?" Hermione asked

"It's the one Mrs Weasley used on the twins remember?" Alicia said as she got her wand out.

Ron's bad mood continued for the rest of the journey. He didn't talk much as they changed into their school robes, and was still glowering when the Hogwarts Express slowed down at last and finally stopped in the pitch-darkness of Hogsmeade station.

As the train doors opened, there was a rumble of thunder overhead. Hermione bundled up Crookshanks in her cloak and Ron left his dress robes over Pigwidgeon as they left the train, heads bent and eyes narrowed against the downpour. The rain was now coming down so thick and fast that it was as though buckets of ice-cold water were being emptied repeatedly over their heads.

"Hi, Hagrid!" Harry yelled, seeing a gigantic silhouette at the far end of the platform.

"All righ', Harry?" Hagrid bellowed back, waving. "See yeh at the feast if we don' drown!"

First years traditionally reached Hogwarts Castle by sailing across the lake with Hagrid.

"Good luck!" Alicia shouted

"Oooh, I wouldn't fancy crossing the lake in this weather," said Hermione fervently, shivering as they inched slowly along the dark platform with the rest of the crowd. A hundred horseless carriages stood waiting for them outside the station. Alicia, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville climbed gratefully into one of them, the door shut with a snap, and a few moments later, with a great lurch, the long procession of carriages was rumbling and splashing its way up the track toward Hogwarts Castle.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Through the gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and up the sweeping drive the carriages trundled, swaying dangerously in what was fast becoming a gale. Leaning against the window, Hogwarts could be seen coming nearer, its many lighted windows blurred and shimmering behind the thick curtain of rain. Alicia couldn't help the smile that came to her face. Hogwarts was after all her home.

Lightning flashed across the sky as their carriage came to a halt before the great oak front doors, which stood at the top of a flight of stone steps. People who had occupied the carriages in front were already hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Alicia, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville jumped down from their carriage and dashed up the steps too, looking up only when they were safely inside the cavernous, torch-lit entrance hall, with its magnificent marble staircase.

"Blimey," said Ron, shaking his head and sending water everywhere, "If that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak — ARRGH!"

A large, red, water-filled balloon had dropped from out of the ceiling onto Ron's head and exploded. Drenched and sputtering, Ron staggered sideways into Harry, just as a second water bomb dropped — narrowly missing Hermione, it burst at Harry's feet, sending a wave of cold water over his sneakers into his socks. Alicia jumped away as a third came at her. People all around them shrieked and started pushing one another in their efforts to get out of the line of fire. Looking up Alicia ground her teeth as she saw, floating twenty feet above them, Peeves the Poltergeist, a little man in a bell-covered hat and orange bow tie, his wide, malicious face contorted with concentration as he took aim again.

"PEEVES!" yelled an angry voice. "Peeves, come down here at ONCE!"

Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor House, had come dashing out of the Great Hall; she skidded on the wet floor and grabbed Hermione around the neck to stop herself from falling.

"Ouch — sorry, Miss Granger —"

"That's all right, Professor!" Hermione gasped, massaging her throat.

"Peeves, get down here NOW!" barked Professor McGonagall, straightening her pointed hat and glaring upward through her square-rimmed spectacles.

"Not doing nothing!" cackled Peeves, lobbing a water bomb at several fifth-year girls, who screamed and dived into the Great Hall. "Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!" And he aimed another bomb at a group of second years who had just arrived.

"I shall call the headmaster!" shouted Professor McGonagall. "I'm warning you, Peeves —"

Peeves stuck out his tongue, threw the last of his water bombs into the air, and zoomed off up the marble staircase, cackling insanely.

"Well, move along, then!" said Professor McGonagall sharply to the bedraggled crowd. "Into the Great Hall, come on!"

Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione slipped and slid across the entrance hall and through the double doors on the right, Ron muttering furiously under his breath as he pushed his sopping hair off his face.

The Great Hall looked its usual splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in midair. The four long House tables were packed with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils. It was much warmer in here. Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione walked past the Slytherins, the Ravenclaws, and the Hufflepuffs, and sat down with the rest of the Gryffindors at the far side of the Hall, next to Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost. Pearly white and semitransparent, Nick was dressed tonight in his usual doublet, but with a particularly large ruff, which served the dual purpose of looking extra-festive, and insuring that his head didn't wobble too much on his partially severed neck.

"Good evening," he said, beaming at them.

"Says who?" said Harry, taking off his sneakers and emptying them of water. "Hope they hurry up with the Sorting. I'm starving."

The Sorting of the new students into Houses took place at the start of every school year, but by an unlucky combination of circumstances, neither Alicia or Harry had been present at one since their own.

"Hiya, Harry!"

Alicia turned and sighed slightly.

It was Colin Creevey, a third year to whom Harry was something of a hero. Within their second year the poor first year hadn't left them alone, or hadn't left Harry alone.

"Hi, Colin," said Harry warily.

"Harry, guess what? Guess what, Harry? My brother's starting! My brother Dennis!"

"Er — good," said Harry.

"He's really excited!" said Colin, practically bouncing up and down in his seat. "I just hope he's in Gryffindor! Keep your fingers crossed, eh, Harry?"

"Er — yeah, all right," said Harry. He turned back to Alicia, Hermione, Ron, and Nearly Headless Nick. "Brothers and sisters usually go in the same Houses, don't they?" he said. He was judging by the Weasleys, all seven of whom had been put into Gryffindor. He looked at Alicia who shrugged.

"Oh no, not necessarily," said Hermione. "Parvati Patil's twin's in Ravenclaw, and they're identical. You'd think they'd be together, wouldn't you?"

"I guess it depends on personality." Alicia shrugged. She didn't seem to be paying much attention however. Her eyes were scouring the hall.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked

"Trying to find out what your family and Malfoy were on about." she confessed frustratedly. The only thing she'd really noticed was that there seemed to be rather more empty seats at the teacher's table than usual. Hagrid, of course, was still fighting his way across the lake with the first years; Professor McGonagall was presumably supervising the drying of the entrance hall floor, but there was another empty chair in which Alicia assumed would be for —

"Where's the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Hermione, who was also looking up at the teachers.

They had never yet had a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who had lasted more than three terms. Alicia, Harry and most of Gryffindor's favourite by far had been Professor Lupin, who had resigned last year. However looking at the table, there was no new face yet.

"Maybe they couldn't get anyone!" said Hermione, looking anxious.

"Maybe they're late." Alicia shrugged as she looked into ever face. Tiny little Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was sitting on a large pile of cushions beside Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, whose hat was askew over her flyaway grey hair. She was talking to Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department. On Professor Sinistra's other side was the sallow-faced, hook-nosed, greasy-haired Potions master, Snape — Harry's least favourite person at Hogwarts. Harry's loathing of Snape was matched only by Snape's hatred of him, a hatred which had, if possible, intensified last year, when Harry had helped Sirius escape right under Snape's overlarge nose — Snape and Sirius had been enemies since their own school days.

While Harry was hated by the professor, Alicia, who Snape knew of her real identity as a Potter, was ignored. She got away with everything Malfoy did, Malfoy being Snape's favourite student. It rather irritated her a lot of the time but had it's advantages.

On Snape's other side was an empty seat, which belonged to Professor McGonagall as it was the space of the deputy headmaster. Next to it, and in the very centre of the table, sat Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, his sweeping silver hair and beard shining in the candlelight, his magnificent deep green robes embroidered with many stars and moons. The tips of Dumbledore's long, thin fingers were together and he was resting his chin upon them, staring up at the ceiling through his half-moon spectacles as though lost in thought. The celling of the great hall was enchanted to look like the sky outside, Alicia looked up to see it looking very stormy. Black and purple clouds were swirling across it, and as another thunderclap sounded outside, a fork of lightning flashed across it.

"Oh hurry up," Ron moaned, beside Harry, "I could eat a hippogriff."

The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the doors of the Great Hall opened and silence fell. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first years up to the top of the Hall. If Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were wet, it was nothing to how these first years looked. They appeared to have swum across the lake rather than sailed. All of them were shivering with a combination of cold and nerves as they filed along the staff table and came to a halt in a line facing the rest of the school — all of them except the smallest of the lot, a boy with mousy hair, who was wrapped in what Alicia recognised as Hagrid's moleskin overcoat. The coat was so big for him that it looked as though he were draped in a furry black circus tent. His small face protruded from over the collar, looking almost painfully excited. When he had lined up with his terrified-looking peers, he caught Colin Creevey's eye, gave a double thumbs-up, and mouthed, _I fell in the lake_! He looked positively delighted about it.

Professor McGonagall now placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty, patched wizard's hat. The first years stared at it. So did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence. Then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song:

 _A thousand years or more ago,_

 _When I was newly sewn,_

 _There lived four wizards of renown,_

 _Whose names are still well known:_

 _Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,_

 _Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,_

 _Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,_

 _Shrewd Slytherin, from fen._

 _They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,_

 _They hatched a daring plan_

 _To educate young sorcerers_

 _Thus Hogwarts School began._

 _Now each of these four founders_

 _Formed their own house, for each_

 _Did value different virtues_

 _In the ones they had to teach._

 _By Gryffindor, the bravest were_

 _Prized far beyond the rest;_

 _For Ravenclaw, the cleverest_

 _Would always be the best;_

 _For Hufflepuff, hard workers were_

 _Most worthy of admission;_

 _And power-hungry Slytherin_

 _Loved those of great ambition._

 _While still alive they did divide_

 _Their favourites from the throng,_

 _Yet how to pick the worthy ones_

 _When they were dead and gone?_

 _'Twas Gryffindor who found the way,_

 _He whipped me off his head_

 _The founders put some brains in me_

 _So I could choose instead!_

 _Now slip me snug about your ears,_

 _I've never yet been wrong,_

 _I'll have a look inside your mind_

 _And tell where you belong!_

The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished.

"It was different." Alicia noticed

"That's not the song it sang when it Sorted us," agreed Harry, clapping along with everyone else.

"Sings a different one every year," said Ron. "It's got to be a pretty boring life, hasn't it, being a hat? I suppose it spends all year making up the next one."

Professor McGonagall was now unrolling a large scroll of parchment.

"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool," she told the first years. "When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table.

"Ackerley, Stewart!"

A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat down on the stool.

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat.

Stewart Ackerley took off the hat and hurried into a seat at the Ravenclaw table, where everyone was applauding him. Alicia noticed suddenly as Harry's cheeks went slightly pink. She turned and followed his gaze before catching glimpse of Cho, the Ravenclaw Seeker, cheering Stewart Ackerley as he sat down. Alicia smirked and looked at Harry he saw her glance and immediately turned to the sorting again, ignoring her.

"Baddock, Malcolm!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

The table on the other side of the hall erupted with cheers; Malfoy clapped as Baddock joined the Slytherins. Everyone knew that Slytherin House had turned out more Dark witches and wizards than any other, whether the first years knew that too was questionable. Fred and George hissed Malcolm Baddock as he sat down.

"Branstone, Eleanor!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Cauldwell, Owen!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Creevey, Dennis!"

Tiny Dennis Creevey staggered forward, tripping over Hagrid's moleskin, just as Hagrid himself sidled into the Hall through a door behind the teachers' table. About twice as tall as a normal man, and at least three times as broad, Hagrid, with his long, wild, tangled black hair and beard, looked slightly alarming — a misleading impression, for Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew Hagrid to possess a very kind nature. He winked at them as he sat down at the end of the staff table and watched Dennis Creevey putting on the Sorting Hat. The rip at the brim opened wide —

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted.

Alicia happily clapped along with the Gryffindors as Dennis Creevey, beaming widely, took off the hat, placed it back on the stool, and hurried over to join his brother.

"Colin, I fell in!" he said shrilly, throwing himself into an empty seat. "It was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back in the boat!"

"Cool!" said Colin, just as excitedly. "It was probably the giant squid, Dennis!"

" _Wow_!" said Dennis, as though nobody in their wildest dreams could hope for more than being thrown into a storm-tossed, fathoms-deep lake, and pushed out of it again by a giant sea monster.

"Dennis! Dennis! See that boy down there? The one with the black hair and glasses? See him? _Know who he is, Dennis_?"

Alicia laughed as Harry looked away, staring very hard at the Sorting Hat, now Sorting Emma Dobbs.

The Sorting continued; boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces moving one by one to the three-legged stool, the line dwindling slowly as Professor McGonagall passed the L's.

"Oh hurry up," Ron moaned, massaging his stomach.

"Now, Ron, the Sorting's much more important than food," said Nearly Headless Nick as "Madley, Laura!" became a Hufflepuff.

" 'Course it is, if you're dead," snapped Ron.

"You should have eaten more on the train." Alicia snapped

"I do hope this year's batch of Gryffindors are up to scratch," said Nearly Headless Nick, applauding as "McDonald, Natalie!" joined the Gryffindor table. "We don't want to break our winning streak, do we?"

Gryffindor had won the Inter-House Championship for the last three years in a row.

"Narr, as long as Harry keeps getting into trouble and saving the school." Alicia shrugged earning a nudge from Harry

"You're no better." he reminded her

"I didn't say I wasn't." she grinned

"Pritchard, Graham!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Quirke, Orla!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

And finally, with "Whitby, Kevin!" ("HUFFLEPUFF!"), the Sorting ended. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool and carried them away.

"About time," said Ron, seizing his knife and fork and looking expectantly at his golden plate.

Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome.

"I have only two words to say to you," he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. " _Tuck in._ "

"Hear, hear!" said Harry and Ron loudly as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes.

Nearly Headless Nick watched mournfully as Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione loaded their own plates.

"Aaah, 'at's be'er," said Ron, with his mouth full of mashed potato.

Alicia whacked his shoulder

"Manners!" she snapped "Don't talk with your mouth full."

"You're lucky there's a feast at all tonight, you know," said Nearly Headless Nick. "There was trouble in the kitchens earlier."

"Why? Wha' 'appened?" said Harry, through a sizeable chunk of steak.

"Harry!" Alicia grumbled

"Peeves, of course," said Nearly Headless Nick, shaking his head, which wobbled dangerously. He pulled his ruff a little higher up on his neck. "The usual argument, you know. He wanted to attend the feast — well, it's quite out of the question, you know what he's like, utterly uncivilised, can't see a plate of food without throwing it. We held a ghost's council — the Fat Friar was all for giving him the chance — but most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down."

The Bloody Baron was the Slytherin ghost, a gaunt and silent spectre covered in silver bloodstains. He was the only person at Hogwarts who could really control Peeves.

"Yeah, we thought Peeves seemed hacked off about something," said Ron darkly. "So what did he do in the kitchens?"

"Oh the usual," said Nearly Headless Nick, shrugging. "Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere. Place swimming in soup. Terrified the house-elves out of their wits —"

 _Clang_.

Hermione had knocked over her golden goblet. Pumpkin juice spread steadily over the tablecloth, staining several feet of white linen orange, but Hermione paid no attention.

"There are house-elves _here_?" she said, staring, horror-struck, at Nearly Headless Nick. "Here at _Hogwarts_?"

Alicia had taken out her wand and tapped the orange mess with it, causing it all to disappear.

"Certainly," said Nearly Headless Nick, looking surprised at her reaction. "The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred."

"I've never seen one!" said Hermione.

"Well, they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do they?" said Nearly Headless Nick. "They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning… see to the fires and so on… I mean, you're not supposed to see them, are you? That's the mark of a good house-elf, isn't it, that you don't know it's there?"

Hermione stared at him.

"But they get _paid_?" she said. "They get _holidays,_ don't they? And — and sick leave, and pensions, and everything?"

Nearly Headless Nick chortled so much that his ruff slipped and his head flopped off, dangling on the inch or so of ghostly skin and muscle that still attached it to his neck.

"Sick leave and pensions?" he said, pushing his head back onto his shoulders and securing it once more with his ruff. "House-elves don't want sick leave and pensions!"

Hermione looked down at her hardly touched plate of food, then put her knife and fork down upon it and pushed it away from her.

"Oh c'mon, 'Er-my-knee," said Ron, accidentally spraying Harry with bits of Yorkshire pudding. "Oops — sorry, 'Arry —" He swallowed. "You won't get them sick leave by starving yourself!"

"Slave labor," said Hermione, breathing hard through her nose. "That's what made this dinner. _Slave labor._ "

"Okay, so now you're going to put their hard work to waste." Alicia shrugged as she ate her own food "Not to mention you'll insult them by doing it." she muttered.

But Hermione refused to eat another bite.

When she'd finished her plate Alicia got up from her seat, earning confused glances before she moved down the table to the first years. She greeted them kindly as they shivered and ate before taking her wand out. Alicia dried off all the first years and had a few conversations with them before returning to her seat and waiting of the dessert to arrive.

"What?" she asked when Ron looked at her weirdly "It pays to be kind sometimes." she shrugged.

The rain was still drumming heavily against the high, dark glass. Another clap of thunder shook the windows, and the stormy ceiling flashed, illuminating the golden plates as the remains of the first course vanished and were replaced, instantly, with puddings.

"Treacle tart, Hermione!" said Ron, deliberately wafting its smell toward her. "Spotted dick, look! Chocolate gateau!"

But Hermione gave him a look so reminiscent of Professor McGonagall that he gave up.

When the puddings too had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard.

"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered," ("Hmph!" said Hermione) "I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."

The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

" _What_?" Harry gasped. Alicia however had shouted it at the top her lungs in surprise. The two of them looked around at Fred and George, their fellow members of the Quidditch team. They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak. Dumbledore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy — but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts —"

But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open.

A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swivelled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark grey hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table.

A dull _clunk_ echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped.

The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any. It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening.

One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye — and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.

"But that's…" Alicia began and the others all turned to look at her.

The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words none could hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.

The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark grey hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.

"May I introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."

It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students clapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him.

"Moody?" Harry muttered to Ron. " _Mad-Eye Moody_? The one your dad went to help this morning?"

"Must be," said Ron in a low, awed voice.

"What happened to him?" Hermione whispered. "What happened to his _face_?"

"Dunno," Ron whispered back, watching Moody with fascination.

"He was an Auror. Bet that's the reminisce of his career." Alicia muttered

Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his traveling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, to show, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.

Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"No way!" Alicia gasped a smile suddenly appearing on her face

"You're JOKING!" said Fred Weasley loudly.

The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.

"I am _not_ joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar…"

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Er — but maybe this is not the time… no…" said Dumbledore, "Where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament… well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who _do_ know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.

"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities — until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

" _Death toll_?" Hermione whispered, looking alarmed.

"It was cancelled because a great number of champions died in it." Alicia muttered to her.

Hermione looked shocked, but her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in the Hall; many of them were whispering excitedly to one another, and Harry himself was far more interested in hearing about the tournament than in worrying about deaths that had happened hundreds of years ago.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.

"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."

"I'm going for it!" Fred Weasley hissed down the table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches. He was not the only person who seemed to be visualising himself as the Hogwarts champion. At every House table, people were either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently to their neighbours.

"So what rules changed…?" Alicia muttered, earning a glance from those around her.

Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age — that is to say, seventeen years or older — will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This" — Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious — "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen."

"That answers that." Alicia sighed slumping her head into her hand.

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody. There was a great scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall.

"They can't do that!" said George Weasley, who had not joined the crowd moving toward the door, but was standing up and glaring at Dumbledore. "We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?"

"They're not stopping me entering," said Fred stubbornly, also scowling at the top table. "The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!"

"Yeah," said Ron, a faraway look on his face. "Yeah, a thousand Galleons…"

"Well when you boys figure out how," Alicia said with a wave

"Come on," said Hermione, "we'll be the only ones left here if you don't move."

Alicia, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George set off for the entrance hall, Fred and George debating the ways in which Dumbledore might stop those who were under seventeen from entering the tournament.

"Who's this impartial judge who's going to decide who the champions are?" said Harry.

"Dunno," said Fred, "but it's them we'll have to fool. I reckon a couple of drops of Ageing Potion might do it, George…"

"Doubtful." Alicia sang "They're not idiots."

"Dumbledore knows you're not of age, though," said Ron.

"Yeah, but he's not the one who decides who the champion is, is he?" said Fred shrewdly. "Sounds to me like once this judge knows who wants to enter, he'll choose the best from each school and never mind how old they are. Dumbledore's trying to stop us giving our names."

"People have died, though!" said Hermione in a worried voice as they walked through a door concealed behind a tapestry and started up another, narrower staircase.

"Yeah," said Fred airily, "but that was years ago, wasn't it? Anyway, where's the fun without a bit of risk? Hey, Ron, what if we find out how to get 'round Dumbledore? Fancy entering?"

"What d'you reckon?" Ron asked Harry. "Be cool to enter, wouldn't it? But I s'pose they might want someone older… Dunno if we've learned enough… Alicia could do it." he said turning to her

"What?"

"You're excellent with spells, I'm sure you know as much as any sixth grader."

"So could Hermione." Alicia pointed

"You're better with spells than I am. I know facts." Herman said simply

"What about it Alicia? If we get in will you aid us?" Fred grinned throwing a hand around her shoulder

" _If_." she reminded him but he waved it away.

"You've learned enough. We've seen you at it." George grinned

"I definitely haven't," came Neville's gloomy voice from behind Fred and George.

"I expect my gran'd want me to try, though. She's always going on about how I should be upholding the family honour. I'll just have to — oops…"

Neville's foot had sunk right through a step halfway up the staircase. There were many of these trick stairs at Hogwarts; it was second nature to most of the older students to jump this particular step, but Neville's memory was notoriously poor. Harry and Ron seized him under the armpits and pulled him out, while a suit of armour at the top of the stairs creaked and clanked, laughing wheezily.

"Shut it, you," said Ron, banging down its visor as they passed. They made their way up to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, which was concealed behind a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said as they approached.

"Balderdash," said George, "a prefect downstairs told me."

The portrait swung forward to reveal a hole in the wall through which they all climbed. A crackling fire warmed the circular common room, which was full of squashy armchairs and tables. Hermione cast the merrily dancing flames a dark look, muttering " _Slave labor,_ "

"Oh come on." Alicia groaned and grabbed Hermione's arm "Night boys." she waved before dragging Hermione through the doorway to the girls' dormitory.

"It's tragic!" Hermione gasped

"I'm going to give you something else that could be seen as tragic." Alicia said as she clasped her hands together "Children are _forced_ to go to school."

"That's different!" Hermione gasped

"How? We don't get the choice in it?" Alicia shrugged "But you wouldn't have it any other way, you think that it's best we go to school." Hermione looked taken aback. "Well remember Winky? She feels the exact same way for house-elves. They wouldn't have their lives any other way, they think working for others is best. Of course you'll always have the odd couple who are marginalised. Children who drop out of school early and house-elves who want to be paid."

Hermione opened her mouth to argue but as usual, Alicia had picked the perfect words to keep her from arguing.

"Telling those house-elves to want money or sick leaves is like telling you to quit school, stop reading books and do something more useful with your life like working." Alicia walked to her four poster bed as Hermione stood shocked in the dormitory.

Alicia got changed and climbed into bed before grinning at Hermione who looked horrified.

"Good night." and she closed her curtains.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

The storm had blown itself out by the following morning, though the ceiling in the Great Hall was still gloomy; heavy clouds of pewter grey swirled overhead as Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione examined their new course schedules at breakfast. A few seats along, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were discussing magical methods of ageing themselves and bluffing their way into the Triwizard Tournament.

"Today's not bad… outside all morning," said Ron, who was running his finger down the Monday column of his schedule. "Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Care of Magical Creatures… damn it, we're still with the Slytherins…"

"Double Divination this afternoon," Harry groaned, looking down. Divination was his least favourite subject, apart from Potions. Professor Trelawney kept predicting Harry's death, which he found extremely annoying.

"You should have given it up like me and Alicia, shouldn't you?" said Hermione briskly, buttering herself some toast. "Then you'd be doing something sensible like Arithmancy."

"It's not for everyone." Alicia reminded her as she examined her own schedule.

"You're eating again, I notice," said Ron, watching Hermione adding liberal amounts of jam to her toast too.

"I've decided there are better ways of making a stand about elf rights," said Hermione haughtily.

"Yeah… and you were hungry," said Ron, grinning.

"I gave her a great talking to last night." Alicia grinned "Unfortunately, she's still at it." she sighed

There was a sudden rustling noise above them, and a hundred owls came soaring through the open windows carrying the morning mail. Alicia looked up expectantly as Harry beside her did the same, but there was no sign of white or black among the mass of brown and grey. The owls circled the tables, looking for the people to whom their letters and packages were addressed. A large tawny owl soared down to Neville Longbottom and deposited a parcel into his lap — Neville almost always forgot to pack something. On the other side of the Hall Draco Malfoy's eagle owl had landed on his shoulder, carrying what looked like his usual supply of sweets and cakes from home. Alicia sighed in disappointment before she turned back to her eggs and bacon.

Harry seemed to think this was worrying for he was preoccupied all the way across the sodden vegetable patch until they arrived in greenhouse three. Alicia looked at their herbology teacher with a twisted expression as Professor Sprout was showing the class the ugliest plants she had ever seen. Indeed, they looked less like plants than thick, black, giant slugs, protruding vertically out of the soil. Each was squirming slightly and had a number of large, shiny swellings upon it, which appeared to be full of liquid.

"Bubotubers," Professor Sprout told them briskly. "They need squeezing. You will collect the pus —"

"The _what_?" said Seamus Finnigan, sounding revolted as Alicia groaned in the same manner.

"Pus, Finnigan, pus," said Professor Sprout, "and it's extremely valuable, so don't waste it. You will collect the pus, I say, in these bottles. Wear your dragon-hide gloves; it can do funny things to the skin when undiluted, bubotuber pus."

Squeezing the bubotubers was disgusting, but oddly satisfying. As each swelling was popped, a large amount of thick yellowish-green liquid burst forth, which smelled strongly of petrol. They caught it in the bottles as Professor Sprout had indicated, and by the end of the lesson had collected several pints.

"This'll keep Madam Pomfrey happy," said Professor Sprout, stoppering the last bottle with a cork. "An excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne, bubotuber pus. Should stop students resorting to desperate measures to rid themselves of pimples."

"Like poor Eloise Midgen," said Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff, in a hushed voice. "She tried to curse hers off."

"Silly girl," said Professor Sprout, shaking her head. "But Madam Pomfrey fixed her nose back on in the end."

A booming bell echoed from the castle across the wet grounds, signalling the end of the lesson, and the class separated; the Hufflepuffs climbing the stone steps for Transfiguration, and the Gryffindors heading in the other direction, down the sloping lawn toward Hagrid's small wooden cabin, which stood on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid was standing outside his hut, one hand on the collar of his enormous black boarhound, Fang. There were several open wooden crates on the ground at his feet, and Fang was whimpering and straining at his collar, apparently keen to investigate the contents more closely. As they drew nearer, an odd rattling noise reached their ears, punctuated by what sounded like minor explosions.

"Mornin'!" Hagrid said, grinning at Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione. "Be'er wait fer the Slytherins, they won' want ter miss this — Blast-Ended Skrewts!"

"Come again?" said Ron.  
Hagrid pointed down into the crates.

"Eurgh!" squealed Lavender Brown, jumping backward.

"Eurgh" just about summed up the Blast-Ended Skrewts. They looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about six inches long, crawling over one another, bumping blindly into the sides of the boxes. They were giving off a very powerful smell of rotting fish. Every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of a skrewt, and with a small _phut,_ it would be propelled forward several inches.

"On'y jus' hatched," said Hagrid proudly, "so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!"

"And why would we _want_ to raise them?" said a cold voice.

The Slytherins had arrived. The speaker was Draco Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle were chuckling appreciatively at his words.

Hagrid looked stumped at the question.

"I mean, what do they _do_?" asked Malfoy. "What is the _point_ of them?"

Hagrid opened his mouth, apparently thinking hard; there was a few seconds' pause, then he said roughly, "Tha's next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things — I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer — I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake — just try 'em out with a bit of each."

"First pus and now this," muttered Seamus.

Nothing but deep affection for Hagrid could have made Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione pick up squelchy handfuls of frog liver and lower them into the crates to tempt the Blast-Ended Skrewts. Harry couldn't suppress the suspicion that the whole thing was entirely pointless, because the skrewts didn't seem to have mouths.

" _Ouch_!" yelled Dean Thomas after about ten minutes. "It got me!

Hagrid hurried over to him, looking anxious.

"Its end exploded!" said Dean angrily, showing Hagrid a burn on his hand.

"Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," said Hagrid, nodding.

"Eurgh!" said Lavender Brown again. "Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?"

"Ah, some of 'em have got stings," said Hagrid enthusiastically (Lavender quickly withdrew her hand from the box). "I reckon they're the males… The females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies… I think they might be ter suck blood."

"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," said Malfoy sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"

"Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," Hermione snapped. "Dragon blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"

Harry, Alicia and Ron grinned at Hagrid, who gave them a furtive smile from behind his bushy beard. Hagrid would have liked nothing better than a pet dragon, as the four of them knew only too well — he had owned one for a brief period during their first year, a vicious Norwegian Ridgeback by the name of Norbert. Hagrid simply loved monstrous creatures, the more lethal, the better.

"Well, at least the skrewts are small," said Ron as they made their way back up to the castle for lunch an hour later.

"They are _now,_ " said Hermione in an exasperated voice, "but once Hagrid's found out what they eat, I expect they'll be six feet long."

"Well, that won't matter if they turn out to cure seasickness or something, will it?" said Ron, grinning slyly at her.

"You know perfectly well I only said that to shut Malfoy up," said Hermione. "As a matter of fact I think he's right. The best thing to do would be to stamp on the lot of them before they start attacking us all."

They sat down at the Gryffindor table and helped themselves to lamb chops and potatoes. Hermione began to eat so fast that Harry and Ron stared at her.

"Er — is this the new stand on elf rights?" said Ron. "You're going to make yourself puke instead?"

"No," said Hermione, with as much dignity as she could muster with her mouth bulging with sprouts. "I just want to get to the library."

"Already?" Alicia asked lazily "That's a record." she turned to Harry "Next she'll be going before the beginning of year feast."

" _What_?" said Ron in disbelief. "Hermione — it's the first day back! We haven't even got homework yet!"

Hermione shrugged and continued to shovel down her food as though she had not eaten for days. Then she leapt to her feet, said, "See you at dinner!" and departed at high speed.

"Ten sickles she's looking up things about elves." Alicia betted

"She's really going for this isn't she?" Ron muttered

"I swear I heard her muttering about it in her sleep last night." Alicia sighed.

When the bell rang to signal the start of afternoon lessons, Harry and Ron set off for North Tower while Alicia moved off to the Arthimancy class to find Hermione.

"Tell me if you're still going to die." Alicia called to Harry as they split.

Hermione was indeed buried under a book about elves.

"Oh Hermione, last year you overloaded us with too much school work now you're going to overload yourself with helping elves that don't want help." she sighed and Hermione looked at her both annoyed and thoughtful "No." Alicia said strongly, her eyes narrowed "I will not help you."

To Alicia satisfaction Professor Vector didn't give them a single parchment of homework and when the bell rang Alicia was feeling much more cheerful than she had after the mornings classes and Noel's missing appearance.

They made their way to dinner and Alicia found the two boys, scowling, on their way to the Great Hall.

"Miserable old bat," she heard Ron say as they approached. "That'll take all weekend, that will…"

"Lots of homework?" said Hermione brightly, as they caught them. "Professor Vector didn't give _us_ any at all!"

"One less subject to worry about." Alicia smiled

"Well, bully for Professor Vector," said Ron moodily.

They reached the entrance hall, which was packed with people queuing for dinner. They had just joined the end of the line, when a loud voice rang out behind them.

"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!"

Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione turned. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing there, each looking thoroughly pleased about something.

"What?" said Ron shortly.

"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" said Malfoy, brandishing a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ and speaking very loudly, so that everyone in the packed entrance hall could hear. "Listen to this!

FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

 _It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."_

Malfoy looked up.

"Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley. It's almost as though he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?" he crowed.

Everyone in the entrance hall was listening now. Malfoy straightened the paper with a flourish and read on:

 _Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen, but refused to answer Daily Prophet questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene._

"And there's a picture, Weasley!" said Malfoy, flipping the paper over and holding it up. "A picture of your parents outside their house — if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"

Ron was shaking with fury. Everyone was staring at him.

"You're rather naive aren't you Malfoy." Alicia sighed with pity for him and Malfoy's smirk vanished as Alicia twisted her wand in her hands lazily. "Believing the works of that old Rita Skeeter," she sighed again "I feel bed that you're pea sized brain has to comprehend rubbish like that."

"C'mon, Ron…" said Harry

"Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter?" sneered Malfoy, having nothing to answer to Alicia. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?"

"You know _your_ mother, Malfoy?" said Harry — both he and Hermione had grabbed the back of Ron's robes to stop him from launching himself at Malfoy — "that expression she's got, like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?"

Malfoy's pale face went slightly pink.

"Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter."

"Too late." Alicia shrugged

"Keep your fat mouth shut, then," said Harry, turning away.

BANG!

Several people screamed as Alicia had her wand pointed at Malfoy, the fire spell shot at Harry missed thanks to her deflection spell. This didn't stop Harry however from plunged his hand into his robes for his wand, but before he'd even touched it, there was a second loud BANG, and a roar that echoed through the entrance hall.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"

Alicia bursted out laughing as Malfoy shrank into a small weasel. No a ferret, white as snow. Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase, his wand pointed at the ferret.

There was a terrified silence in the entrance hall. Nobody but Moody was moving a muscle. Moody turned to look at Harry — at least, his normal eye was looking at Harry; the other one was pointing into the back of his head.

"Did he get you?" Moody growled. His voice was low and gravelly.

"No," said Harry, "missed."

"Deflected." Alicia corrected and Harry nodded looking at her

"LEAVE IT!" Moody shouted.

"Leave — what?" Harry said, bewildered.

"Not you — him!" Moody growled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Crabbe, who had just frozen, about to pick up the white ferret. It seemed that Moody's rolling eye was magical and could see out of the back of his head.

Moody started to limp toward Crabbe, Goyle, and the ferret, which gave a terrified squeak and took off, streaking toward the dungeons.

"I don't think so!" roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again — it flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more.

"I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," growled Moody as the ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain. "Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do…

"Malfoy could never win if Harry was paying attention." Alicia shrugged as the ferret flew through the air, its legs and tail flailing helplessly.

"Never — do — that — again —" said Moody, speaking each word as the ferret hit the stone floor and bounced upward again.

"Professor Moody!" said a shocked voice.

Professor McGonagall was coming down the marble staircase with her arms full of books.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," said Moody calmly, bouncing the ferret still higher.

"What — what are you doing?" said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret's progress through the air.

"Teaching," said Moody.

"Teach — Moody, _is that a student_?" shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms.

"Yep," said Moody.

"No!" cried Professor McGonagall, running down the stairs and pulling out her wand; a moment later, with a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy had reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor with his sleek blond hair all over his now brilliantly pink face. He got to his feet, wincing.

"Moody, we _never_ use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall weakly. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"

"He might've mentioned it, yeah," said Moody, scratching his chin unconcernedly, "but I thought a good sharp shock —"

"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"

"I'll do that, then," said Moody, staring at Malfoy with great dislike.

Malfoy, whose pale eyes were still watering with pain and humiliation, looked malevolently up at Moody and muttered something in which the words "my father" were distinguishable.

Alicia laughed at the thought of Malfoy running to his father with an Auror before him.

"Oh yeah?" said Moody quietly, limping forward a few steps, the dull _clunk_ of his wooden leg echoing around the hall. "Well, I know your father of old, boy… You tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son… you tell him that from me… Now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"

"Yes," said Malfoy resentfully.

"Another old friend," growled Moody. "I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape… Come on, you…"

And he seized Malfoy's upper arm and marched him off toward the dungeons.

"Finally, a teacher willing to attack the right people." Alicia said with a sigh of satisfaction, a grin on her face.

Professor McGonagall stared anxiously after them for a few moments, then waved her wand at her fallen books, causing them to soar up into the air and back into her arms.

"Don't talk to me," Ron said quietly to Harry, Alicia and Hermione as they sat down at the Gryffindor table a few minutes later, surrounded by excited talk on all sides about what had just happened.

"Why not?" said Hermione in surprise.

"Because I want to fix that in my memory forever," said Ron, his eyes closed and an uplifted expression on his face. "Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret…"

Alicia, Harry and Hermione laughed, and Hermione began doling beef casserole onto each of their plates.

"He could have really hurt Malfoy, though," she said. "It was good, really, that Professor McGonagall stopped it —"

"Hermione!" said Ron furiously, his eyes snapping open again, "you're ruining the best moment of my life!"

Hermione made an impatient noise and began to eat at top speed again.

"Don't tell me you're going back to the library this evening?" said Harry, watching her.

"Got to," said Hermione thickly. "Loads to do."

"But you told us Professor Vector —"

"It's not schoolwork," she said. Within five minutes, she had cleared her plate and departed. No sooner had she gone than her seat was taken by Fred Weasley.

"Moody!" he said. "How cool is he?"

"Beyond cool," said George, sitting down opposite Fred.

"Supercool," said the twins' best friend, Lee Jordan, sliding into the seat beside George. "We had him this afternoon," he told Alicia, Harry and Ron.

"What was it like?" said Harry eagerly.

Fred, George, and Lee exchanged looks full of meaning.

"Never had a lesson like it," said Fred.

"He _knows,_ man," said Lee.

"Knows what?" said Ron, leaning forward.

"Knows what it's like to be out there _doing_ it," said George impressively.

"Doing what?" said Harry.

"Fighting the Dark Arts," said Fred.

"He's seen it all," said George.

" 'Mazing," said Lee.

Ron dived into his bag for his schedule.

"We haven't got him till Thursday!" he said in a disappointed voice.

"Thursday will fly in." Alicia waved it away "If you do all that divination homework I bet you'll be at his lesson before you know it." she grinned

"Well if Hermione's busy researching…"

"House-Elves." Alicia said

"Then will you help us?"

"Remember the fact that I don't do the subject?" Alicia asked

"Just read the book." Ron shrugged, Alicia pulled a face

"Who do you think I am? Hermione?"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

The next two days passed without great incident, unless you counted Neville melting his sixth cauldron in Potions. Professor Snape, who seemed to have attained new levels of vindictiveness over the summer, gave Neville detention, and Neville returned from it in a state of nervous collapse, having been made to disembowel a barrel full of horned toads.

"You know why Snape's in such a foul mood, don't you?" said Ron to Harry as they watched Hermione teaching Neville a Scouring Charm to remove the frog guts from under his fingernails.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Moody."

It was common knowledge that Snape really wanted the Dark Arts job, and he had now failed to get it for the fourth year running. Snape had disliked all of their previous Dark Arts teachers, and shown it — but he seemed strangely wary of displaying overt animosity to Mad-Eye Moody. Indeed, whenever Harry saw the two of them together — at mealtimes, or when they passed in the corridors — he had the distinct impression that Snape was avoiding Moody's eye, whether magical or normal.

"I reckon Snape's a bit scared of him, you know," Harry said thoughtfully.

"Might have something to do with Malfoy." Alicia grinned

"Imagine if Moody turned Snape into a horned toad," said Ron, his eyes misting over, "and bounced him all around his dungeon…"

The Gryffindor fourth years were looking forward to Moody's first lesson so much that they arrived early on Thursday lunchtime and queued up outside his classroom before the bell had even rung. The only person missing was Hermione, who turned up just in time for the lesson.

"Been in the —"

"Library." Harry finished her sentence for her. "C'mon, quick, or we won't get decent seats."

They hurried into four chairs right in front of the teacher's desk, took out their copies of _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection,_ and waited, unusually quiet. Soon they heard Moody's distinctive clunking footsteps coming down the corridor, and he entered the room, looking as strange and frightening as ever. They could just see his clawed, wooden foot protruding from underneath his robes.

"You can put those away," he growled, stumping over to his desk and sitting down, "those books. You won't need them."

They returned the books to their bags, Ron looking excited.

Moody took out a register, shook his long mane of grizzled grey hair out of his twisted and scarred face, and began to call out names, his normal eye moving steadily down the list while his magical eye swivelled around, fixing upon each student as he or she answered.

"Right then," he said, when the last person had declared themselves present, "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures — you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"

There was a general murmur of assent.

"But you're behind — very behind — on dealing with curses," said Moody. "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark —"

"What, aren't you staying?" Ron blurted out.

Moody's magical eye spun around to stare at Ron; Ron looked extremely apprehensive, but after a moment Moody smiled — the first time they had seen him do so. The effect was to make his heavily scarred face look more twisted and contorted than ever, but it was nevertheless good to know that he ever did anything as friendly as smile. Ron looked deeply relieved.

"You'll be Arthur Weasley's son, eh?" Moody said. "Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago… Yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favour to Dumbledore.… One year, and then back to my quiet retirement."

He gave a harsh laugh, and then clapped his gnarled hands together.

"So — straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then." Alicia's face fell in surprise and Harry glanced at her confused "But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."

Lavender jumped and blushed. She had been showing Parvati her completed horoscope for Divination under the desk. Apparently Moody's magical eye could see through solid wood, as well as out of the back of his head.

"So… do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"

Several hands rose tentatively into the air, including Alicia's, Ron's and Hermione's. Moody pointed at Ron, though his magical eye was still fixed on Lavender.

"Er," said Ron tentatively, "my dad told me about one… Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?"

"Ah, yes," said Moody appreciatively. "Your father _would_ know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse."

Moody got heavily to his mismatched feet, opened his desk drawer, and took out a glass jar. Three large black spiders were scuttling around inside it. Ron recoil slightly next to Harry — Ron hated spiders.

Moody reached into the jar, caught one of the spiders, and held it in the palm of his hand so that they could all see it. He then pointed his wand at it and muttered, " _Imperio_!"

The spider leapt from Moody's hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, then did a back flip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk, where it began to cartwheel in circles. Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance.

Everyone was laughing — everyone except Moody.

"Think it's funny, do you?" he growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"

The laughter died away almost instantly.

"Total control," said Moody quietly as the spider balled itself up and began to roll over and over. "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…"

Ron gave an involuntary shudder.

"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse," said Moody, he was talking about the days in which Voldemort had been all-powerful. "Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will.

"The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he barked, and everyone jumped.

Moody picked up the somersaulting spider and threw it back into the jar.

"Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?

As usual Alicia and Hermione's hands flew into the air again and so, to everyone's slight surprise, did Neville's. The only class in which Neville usually volunteered information was Herbology, which was easily his best subject. Neville looked surprised at his own daring.

"Yes?" said Moody, his magical eye rolling right over to fix on Neville.

"There's one — the Cruciatus Curse," said Neville in a small but distinct voice.

Moody was looking very intently at Neville, this time with both eyes.

"Your name's Longbottom?" he said, his magical eye swooping down to check the register again.

Neville nodded nervously, but Moody made no further inquiries. Turning back to the class at large, he reached into the jar for the next spider and placed it upon the desktop, where it remained motionless, apparently too scared to move.

"The Cruciatus Curse," said Moody. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea," he said, pointing his wand at the spider. " _Engorgio_!"

The spider swelled. It was now larger than a tarantula. Abandoning all pretence, Ron pushed his chair backward, as far away from Moody's desk as possible.

Alicia bit her lip as she watched the spider.

Moody raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, and muttered, " _Crucio_!"

At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but if it could have given voice, it would have been screaming. Moody did not remove his wand, and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently —

But Alicia wasn't looking at the spider. She and Hermione had noticed Neville.

"Stop it!" Hermione said shrilly.

Neville's hands were clenched upon the desk in front of him, his knuckles white, his eyes wide and horrified.

Moody raised his wand. The spider's legs relaxed, but it continued to twitch.

" _Reducio,_ " Moody muttered, and the spider shrank back to its proper size. He put it back into the jar.

"Pain," said Moody softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse… That one was very popular once too.

"Right… anyone know any others?"

Harry looked around. From the looks on everyone's faces, he guessed they were all wondering what was going to happen to the last spider. Hermione's hand shook slightly as, for the third time, she raised it into the air. Alicia refused to raise her's and Harry looked at her confused.

"Yes?" said Moody, looking at her.

" _Avada Kedavra,_ " Hermione whispered.

"Killing Curse." Alicia added

Several people looked uneasily around at her, including Ron.

"Ah," said Moody, another slight smile twisting his lopsided mouth. "Yes, the last and worst. _Avada Kedavra…_ the Killing Curse."

He put his hand into the glass jar, and almost as though it knew what was coming, the third spider scuttled frantically around the bottom of the jar, trying to evade Moody's fingers, but he trapped it, and placed it upon the desktop. It started to scuttle frantically across the wooden surface.

Moody raised his wand, and Alicia looked away.

" _Avada Kedavra_!" Moody roared.

There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air — instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead. Several of the students stifled cries; Ron had thrown himself backward and almost toppled off his seat as the spider skidded toward him.

Moody swept the dead spider off the desk onto the floor.

"Not nice," he said calmly. "Not pleasant. And there's no countercurse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me."

Harry's face went red as Moody's eyes looked into his own. Alicia however looked up to find the magical eye looking at her, absentmindedly she placed a hand on her neck over her own scar. But Alicia looked at Harry who held the professor's gaze.

The death of their parents hadn't been a mystery to Alicia. Last year she and Harry got to hear their parents in their final moments thanks to the affect given to them by the dementors, all set up around Hogwarts to look for Sirius. The two of them knew Wormtail had betrayed their parents' whereabouts to Voldemort, who had come to find them at their cottage. How Voldemort had killed the twins' father first. How James Potter had tried to hold him off, while he shouted at his wife to take Harry and Alicia and run… Voldemort had advanced on Lily Potter, told her to move aside so that he could kill Harry, his ultimate goal… how she had begged him to kill her instead, refused to stop shielding her son or daughter… and so Voldemort had murdered her too, before turning his wand on Harry… Alicia had received the back lash, a wave that came off of her brother, connecting them in a way much different to most twins. However the entire world except for a certain few, such as Dumbledore, Arthur Weasley, the Minister of Magic and a few others within the ministry, thought Alicia Potter had died that night along with her parents.

Moody was speaking again, allowing Alicia to abandon the thoughts and concentrate.

" _Avada Kedavra's_ a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it — you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed. But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it.

"Now, if there's no countercurse, why am I showing you? _Because you've got to know._ You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared, and the whole class jumped again.

"Now… those three curses — _Avada Kedavra,_ Imperius, and Cruciatus — are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice _constant, never-ceasing vigilance_. Get out your quills… copy this down…"

They spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke until the bell rang — but when Moody had dismissed them and they had left the classroom, a torrent of talk burst forth. Most people were discussing the curses in awed voices —

"Did you see it twitch?"

"— and when he killed it — just like that!"

They were talking about the lesson, as though it had been some sort of spectacular show, Alicia hadn't liked it, performing those curses in a classroom… Harry hadn't seemed to enjoy it much either, and nor, it seemed, had Hermione.

"Hurry up," she said tensely to Harry and Ron.

"Not the ruddy library again?" said Ron.

"No," said Hermione curtly, pointing up a side passage. "Neville." Neville was standing alone, halfway up the passage, staring at the stone wall opposite him with the same horrified, wide-eyed look he had worn when Moody had demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse.

"Neville?" Hermione said gently.

Neville looked around.

"Oh hello," he said, his voice much higher than usual. "Interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner, I'm — I'm starving, aren't you?"

"Neville, are you all right?" said Hermione.

"Oh yes, I'm fine," Neville gabbled in the same unnaturally high voice. "Very interesting dinner — I mean lesson — what's for eating?"

Ron gave Harry a startled look.

"Neville, what — ?"

But an odd clunking noise sounded behind them, and they turned to see Professor Moody limping toward them. All five of them fell silent, watching him apprehensively, but when he spoke, it was in a much lower and gentler growl than they had yet heard.

"It's all right, sonny," he said to Neville. "Why don't you come up to my office? Come on… we can have a cup of tea…"

Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of tea with Moody. He neither moved nor spoke. Moody turned his magical eye upon Harry.

"You all right, are you, Potter?"

"Yes," said Harry, almost defiantly.

Moody's blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it surveyed Harry, however it didn't stay there, it landed back on Alicia. She had a scary feeling Mad-eye was one of the few who knew who she was… like that eye of his had words written over it like the Omnioculars had.

Then he said, "You've got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, _but you've got to know._ No point pretending… well… come on, Longbottom, I've got some books that might interest you."

Neville looked pleadingly at Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but they didn't say anything, so Neville had no choice but to allow himself to be steered away, one of Moody's gnarled hands on his shoulder.

"What was that about?" said Ron, watching Neville and Moody turn the corner.

"I don't know," said Hermione, looking pensive.

"Some lesson, though, eh?" said Ron to Harry as they set off for the Great Hall. "Fred and George were right, weren't they? He really knows his stuff, Moody, doesn't he? When he did _Avada Kedavra,_ the way that spider just _died,_ just snuffed it right —"

But Ron fell suddenly silent at the look on Harry's face and didn't speak again until they reached the Great Hall, when he said he supposed they had better make a start on Professor Trelawney's predictions tonight, since they would take hours.

Hermione did not join in with Harry and Ron's conversation during dinner, but ate furiously fast, and then left for the library again. Alicia seemed lost in her thoughts and when Ron directed something at her, she just hummed in question, causing him to roll his eyes and continue with Harry without repeating himself.

Alicia, Harry and Ron walked back to Gryffindor Tower, and Harry, now raised the subject of the Unforgivable Curses himself.

"Wouldn't Moody and Dumbledore be in trouble with the Ministry if they knew we'd seen the curses?" Harry asked as they approached the Fat Lady.

"Yeah, probably," said Ron. "But Dumbledore's always done things his way, hasn't he, and Moody's been getting in trouble for years, I reckon. Attacks first and asks questions later — look at his dustbins. Balderdash."

The Fat Lady swung forward to reveal the entrance hole, and they climbed into the Gryffindor common room, which was crowded and noisy.

"Shall we get our Divination stuff, then?" said Harry.

"I s'pose," Ron groaned.

They went up to the dormitory to fetch their books and charts while Alicia grabbed them a table and set down with a little homework she'd been given since Monday. The two boys joined her and began. After an hour their table was covered in parchments bearing symbols and signs, however despite this they had made very little progress.

"I haven't got a clue what this lot's supposed to mean," said Harry suddenly, staring down at a long list of calculations.

"You know," said Ron, whose hair was on end because of all the times he had run his fingers through it in frustration, "I think it's back to the old Divination standby."

"What — make it up?"

"Yeah," said Ron,

"Like she'd know the difference." Alicia grumbled, she wasn't as strongly apposed as Hermione was but that didn't mean she thought it was a useful subject.

Ron, sweeping the jumble of scrawled notes off the table, dipped his pen into some ink and started to write.

"Next Monday," he said as he scribbled, "I am likely to develop a cough, owing to the unlucky conjunction of Mars and Jupiter." He looked up at Harry. "You know her — just put in loads of misery, she'll lap it up."

"Right," said Harry, crumpling up his first attempt and lobbing it over the heads of a group of chattering first years into the fire. "Okay…on Monday, _I_ will be in danger of—er—burns."

"Yeah, you will be," said Ron darkly, "We're seeing the skrewts again on Monday."

"So it's not totally inaccurate." Alicia sighed

"Okay, Tuesday, _I'll…_ erm…"

"Lose a treasured possession," said Harry, who was flicking through _Unfogging the Future_ for ideas.

"Good one," said Ron, copying it down. "Because of… erm… Mercury. Why don't you get stabbed in the back by someone you thought was a friend?"

"Yeah… cool…" said Harry, scribbling it down, "because… Venus is in the twelfth house."

"And on Wednesday, I think I'll come off worst in a fight."

"Aaah, I was going to have a fight. Okay, I'll lose a bet."

"Yeah, you'll be betting I'll win my fight…" Alicia chuckled.

They continued to make up predictions (which grew steadily more tragic) for another hour, Alicia adding in options for the fun of it when either came at a loss, while the common room around them slowly emptied as people went up to bed. Crookshanks wandered over to them, leapt lightly into an empty chair, and stared inscrutably at Harry, rather as Hermione might look if she knew they weren't doing their homework properly.

"I think he's taking her place."

"It's like they're connected, like Filch and Mrs Norris." Ron muttered. Harry however nudged Alicia, not listening. She looked at him before following his gaze to see Fred and George sitting together against the opposite wall, heads together, quills out, poring over a single piece of parchment. It was most unusual to see Fred and George hidden away in a corner and working silently; they usually liked to be in the thick of things and the noisy centre of attention. There was something secretive about the way they were working on the piece of parchment. It wasn't much unlike when they had sat together writing something back at the Burrow. Although this time it didn't seem to be another order form for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, if it had been, they would surely have let Lee Jordan in on the joke.

"Think they'e planning on entering the tournament?" Alicia whispered to Harry.

As Harry watched, George shook his head at Fred, scratched out something with his quill, and said, in a very quiet voice that nevertheless carried across the almost deserted room, "No — that sounds like we're accusing him. Got to be careful."

Then George looked over and saw Alicia and Harry watching him. Harry grinned and quickly returned to his predictions, Alicia on the other hand raised a questioning eyebrow at them. However she only received a grin in return. Shortly after that, the twins rolled up their parchment, said good night, and went off to bed.

Fred and George had been gone ten minutes or so when the portrait hole opened and Hermione climbed into the common room carrying a sheaf of parchment in one hand and a box whose contents rattled as she walked in the other. Crookshanks arched his back, purring.

"Hello," she said, "I've just finished!"

"So have I!" said Ron triumphantly, throwing down his quill. Hermione sat down, laid the things she was carrying in an empty armchair, and pulled Ron's predictions toward her.

"Not going to have a very good month, are you?" she said sardonically as Crookshanks curled up in her lap.

"Ah well, at least I'm forewarned," Ron yawned.

"You seem to be drowning twice," said Hermione.

"Oh am I?" said Ron, peering down at his predictions. "I'd better change one of them to getting trampled by a rampaging hippogriff."

"Don't you think it's a bit obvious you've made these up?" said Hermione.

"How dare you!" said Ron, in mock outrage. "We've been working like house-elves here!"

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"It's just an expression," said Ron hastily.

Harry laid down his quill too, having just finished predicting his own death by decapitation.

"It was funny to listen to Hermione." Alicia shrugged "How's your elf-rights going?"

"What's in the box?" Ron interrupted, pointing at it.

"Funny you should ask," said Hermione, with a nasty look at Ron. She took off the lid and showed them the contents.

Inside were about fifty badges, all of different colours, but all bearing the same letters: S.P.E.W.

"'Spew'?" said Harry, picking up a badge and looking at it. "What's this about?"

"Not _spew,_ " said Hermione impatiently. "It's S-P-E-W. Stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.

"Never heard of it," said Ron.

"Well, of course you haven't," said Hermione briskly, "I've only just started it."

"Yeah?" said Ron in mild surprise. "How many members have you got?"

"Well — if you two join — three," said Hermione.

"And you think we want to walk around wearing badges saying 'spew,' do you?" said Ron.

"S-P-E-W!" said Hermione hotly.

"Hermione that's a terrible name." Alicia admitted "No one will take you seriously with that. You should have used 'Rights' instead of 'Welfare' to get SPER." she shrugged

"I was going to put Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status — but it wouldn't fit. So that's the heading of our manifesto."

She brandished the sheaf of parchment at them.

"I've been researching it thoroughly in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now."

"Hermione — open your ears," said Ron loudly. "They. Like. It. They _like_ being enslaved!"

"Don't you remember what I said the other night?" Alicia questioned

"Our short-term aims," said Hermione, speaking even more loudly than Ron, and acting as though she hadn't heard a word, "are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long- term aims include changing the law about non-wand use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because they're shockingly underrepresented."

"And how do we do all this?" Harry asked.

"We start by recruiting members," said Hermione happily. "I thought two Sickles to join — that buys a badge — and the proceeds can fund our leaflet campaign. You're treasurer, Ron — I've got you a collecting tin upstairs — and Harry, you're secretary, so you might want to write down everything I'm saying now, as a record of our first meeting."

"What about Alicia?"

"She's deputy president."

"Do you remember earlier?" Alicia wondered to Hermione

"When?"

"When I said I wouldn't help." Hermione looked at her surprised, obviously having not believed Alicia.

There was a pause where Alicia and Hermione and a stare off and Ron stared at Hermione, a look on his face which highly amused Harry. The silence was broken, not by Ron, who in any case looked as though he was temporarily dumbstruck, but by a soft _tap, tap_ on the window. Harry looked across the now empty common room and saw, illuminated by the moonlight, a snowy owl perched on the windowsill.

"Hedwig!" he shouted, Alicia was out of her seat just as quickly as they launched across the room to pull open the window.

Hedwig flew inside, soared across the room, and landed on the table on top of Harry's predictions.

"About time!" said Harry, hurrying after her. He went to move before a black bird quickly followed and landed next to her.

"Noel!" Alicia grinned

"They've got an answer!" said Ron excitedly, pointing at the grubby piece of parchment tied to both Noel and Hedwig's legs.

Harry hastily untied the one from Hedwig first and sat down to read, whereupon Hedwig fluttered onto his knee, hooting softly.

"What does it say?" Hermione asked breathlessly.

The letter was very short, and looked as though it had been scrawled in a great hurry. Harry read it aloud:

 _Harry —_

 _I'm flying north immediately. This news about your scar is the latest in a series of strange rumours that have reached me here. If it hurts again, go straight to Dumbledore — they're saying he's got Mad-Eye out of retirement, which means he's reading the signs, even if no one else is._

 _I'll be in touch soon. My best to Ron and Hermione. Keep your eyes open, Harry._

 _Sirius_

Harry looked up at Ron and Hermione, who stared back at him.

"He's flying north?" Hermione whispered. "He's coming _back_?"

"Dumbledore's reading what signs?" said Ron, looking perplexed. "Harry — what's up?"

For Harry had just hit himself in the forehead with his fist, jolting Hedwig out of his lap.

"I shouldn't've told him!" Harry said furiously.

"What are you on about?" said Ron in surprise.

"It's made him think he's got to come back!" said Harry, now slamming his fist on the table so that Hedwig landed on the back of Ron's chair, hooting indignantly. "Coming back, because he thinks I'm in trouble! And there's nothing wrong with me! And I haven't got anything for you," Harry snapped at Hedwig, who was clicking her beak expectantly, "you'll have to go up to the Owlery if you want food."

Hedwig gave him an extremely offended look and took off for the open window, cuffing him around the head with her outstretched wing as she went.

"Harry," Hermione began, in a pacifying sort of voice.

"I'm going to bed," said Harry shortly. "See you in the morning."

And he left.

Alicia watched him before she turned to Noel and removed the letter from her also. Ron and Hermione didn't know about her dream, or her scar, so she did this when the two were whispering about Harry, the letter and what Sirius could have meant.

 _Alicia,_

 _I'm not sure if Harry's told you by now, but he sent me a letter containing news of his sore scar as well. If both of you are having this pain then it cannot be nothing._

 _You're dream on the other hand is rather worrying. The fact that it pertains to real facts such as the Quidditch Cup and missing ministry witch leads me to believe you should be on high look out, dream or not._

 _If they were planning on waiting a few months while Harry's in Hogwarts then that's also to be concerned about, this faithful servant might be someone within your own walls…_

 _I am on my way North immediately, the fact that Harry's life could be in danger, dream or not, is not something to be ignored. I highly suggest you tell Dumbledore about this, having Mad-eye out of retirement means he's just as worried and has his own suspicions._

 _Have you told Harry about this yet? If even one of you has another dream or your scars' hurt, you're to tell Dumbledore. These are things that are adding to the signs, of course the ministry will ignore them at all costs but Dumbledore is aware by the sounds of it._

 _Stay well, keep your eyes peeling. Buckbeak is well, excited to be heading back up North. Give Hermione and Ron my regards._

 _Sirius_

Alicia bit her lip, so it was a worry.

Grabbing a piece of abandoned parchment left by Harry and Ron Alicia grabbed her quil and began to reply.

 _Sirius._

 _You shouldn't be coming back North. If you get caught it's our fault, no matter what you say otherwise. Harry agree's with me, he's now chewing himself up for telling you anything at all._

 _What signs are Dumbledore obviously seeing? Don't leave me in the dark on this, I'm slightly worried now that my dream might not be a dream. Although, that get's worse, I did speak to Harry and he had the same dream, only he doesn't seem to remember it nearly as well as I do… it's that that makes me worry but that doesn't mean you should be coming anywhere near Hogwarts or even London._

 _She paused and remembered the dream she had the night before they caught the Hogwarts Express… it just had random people in it… was it important?_

 _She shook her head and decided to leave it out before continuing._

 _By the way, did you know, the Triwizard Tournament is occurring this year at Hogwarts, but there's a rule that no one under the age of seventeen is allowed to participate. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and the champions are picked on Halloween. There's no quidditch this year unfortunately though because of it. Maybe this year will actually end without Harry and I getting into a load of trouble?_

 _Don't come back. There isn't much you can do here anyway._

 _Stay well._

 _Alicia_

xx

Alicia folded up the letter before gathering up her books and holding her arm out.

"Noel." Hermione and Ron looked at her, seeming to remember she was there. The bird flew to Alicia's shoulder and she turned to the other two.

"I'm going to bed too, good night." and she left without a word.

Within the dormitory Alicia laid her newly written letter out on her bedside table and put her books away before grabbing a treat for Noel.

"I have another letter to send but I'll let you rest first." Alicia whispered to the bird, stroking her feathers. Noel clicked her beak and Alicia gave her another treat before changing and climbing into bed also.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

Alicia awoke to scratching and a soft hoot the next morning. She opened her eyes to see Noel sitting there expectantly, the letter to Sirius at her feet.

"You sound impatient." Alicia whispered as she closed her eyes again. Noel clicked her beak some more and when Alicia didn't respond she hooted again.

Alicia groaned.

"Fine." she allowed and she removed her blankets before digging through her bag to tie the letter to Noel's leg. The owl stood motionless, her leg extended as Alicia worked before she held her hand out to the bird. The black animal stepped onto Alicia's wrist and she carried her to the window.

"Back to Sirius Noel. It's important." Alicia whispered "You need to find him before the dementors do." the black owl blinked it's green eyes and nipped Alicia's finger before she spread her wings and took off out the window.

Checking the time Alicia began to get dressed and ready for the day, Hermione waking up halfway through.

"You're up early." she commented with a yawn. Alicia shrugged

"Oh well."

The two girls made their way down to breakfast together where Ron and Harry joined them. Alicia wasn't the only one to send a letter this morning.

"I replied to Sirus." he said

"What'd you say?" Ron asked through a mouthful of food, earning a disapproving glance from Hermione.

"That I imagined my scar hurting." Harry shrugged simply. Alicia sighed, well thanks to her letter Sirius knew that wasn't true.

"That was a _lie,_ Harry," said Hermione sharply "You _didn't_ imagine your scar hurting and you know it."

"So what?" said Harry. "He's not going back to Azkaban because of me."

"Drop it," said Ron sharply to Hermione as she opened her mouth to argue some more, and for once, Hermione heeded him, and fell silent.

"Harry, Sirius isn't an idiot, I doubt he'll believe you and he'll come anyway." Alicia sighed

"Did you say anything?" Harry asked her. Alicia pursed her lips and turned to her breakfast, causing Harry to groan slightly.

"What did you say?"

"I told him not to come back." she shrugged "But I told the truth which is more likely to make him stay put." she said pointedly "Not that he'd listen of course…"

It was obvious that nothing any of them said would diminish Harry's worry. He gazed up at the owls every morning in anticipation and glanced around at night also, waiting for his snowy owl. Alicia was a little more confident. She knew Sirius could be in trouble but the fact that he'd gone a couple of months already without leaving a trace, despite sending such colourful birds out to deliver letters, she hoped he'd be smart, not matter how hasty he was.

Despite the fact that there wasn't any quidditch to distract their minds from the twin's godfather Alicia was managing alright thanks to their lessons becoming more difficult and demanding than ever before, particularly Moody's Defence Against the Dark Arts.

To their surprise, Professor Moody had announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of them in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see whether they could resist its effects.

Alicia wasn't the only one who doubted this idea.

"But — but you said it's illegal, Professor," said Hermione uncertainly as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said — to use it against another human was —"

"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," said Moody, his magical eye swivelling onto Hermione and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. "If you'd rather learn the hard way — when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely — fine by me. You're excused. Off you go."

"That's not the problem Professor," Alicia sighed when Hermione didn't move "Even if Dumbledore allows it, can't he get in trouble too?"

"The ministry wouldn't dare go against Dumbledore, after all Fudge goes to the Headmaster for advice doesn't he?" Moody snapped at her. Alicia sighed and glanced at Hermione who shared her worries.

Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperius Curse upon them. The class watched as, one by one, their classmates did the most extraordinary things under its influence. Dean Thomas hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel. Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state. Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of them recovered only when Moody had removed it.

"Potter," Moody growled, "you next."

Harry moved forward into the middle of the classroom, into the space that Moody had cleared of desks. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Harry, and said, " _Imperio_!"

Harry looked as though he'd become a doll. Empty of a soul and just a body, no thought or concept, just like the others.

Harry suddenly bent his knees, apparently preparing to spring as Moody kept a fixed watch on him.

And Harry didn't move. Alicia watched confused, wasn't Moody making him do anything?

And then the strangest thing happened. Harry jumped, but it looked as though he was fighting with himself and didn't want to jump at the same time. The result was Harry ended up smashing headlong into the desk before him and knocking it over.

"Now, _that's_ more like it!" growled Moody's voice and Harry shook his head slightly, looking at them all before grabbing one of his knees. Alicia wasn't surprised they hurt.

"Look at that, you lot… Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention — watch his eyes, that's where you see it — very good, Potter, very good indeed! They'll have trouble controlling _you_!" Alicia helped Harry to his feet, and he hobbled slightly as he backed out of the way.

"Evans! Your turn." Alicia looked at him and then at Harry. He gave her an encouraging nod before she took a deep breath and moved into the middle of the room. She watched the ex-Auror's wand as he rose it to point at her

" _Imperio!_ " he said. Everything disappeared from Alicia's body, any worries, any thoughts, Sirius, her dream. Everything was gone and she felt as though she was floating on air, her brain had turned to cotton candy and she was more than content as if lying on clouds.

She sighed with contentment, enjoying the peace before it was disrupted.

 _Do a handstand… do a handstand…_

This annoyed her, why would she want to do something so trivial? She was more than happy to just stand in the empty happiness that surrounded her.

 _Do a handstand…_ it said again, it was Professor Moody's voice.

 _No._ Alicia decided firmly _Leave me in this peace._

 _Do a handstand!_

 _How silly, in these robes too?_ she was beginning to feel a slight annoyance as to the nagging voice and it's commands. Why couldn't it just leave her floating on clouds? And it was making her worry too.

 _Do the handstand now!_

 _Go boss someone else to do it. I'm enjoying the peace and quiet!_ Alicia closed her eyes to feel the contentment, the happiness that swirled around her and the missing worries of Sirius being caught and the dark mark appearing, Hermione's nagging Elf-rights. Everything had drifted away as though she was in a meditation. This nagging voice was just a reminder of these drifting worries and brought her closer back to the earth and reality.

" _Excellent!_ " Moody's voice was like a tone of bricks and Alicia's brain was suddenly filled with all her thoughts and worries again as though someone had flicked her in the face with an elastic band. " _Brilliant!_ Evan's resisted! Quite the pair, Potter and Evans! Vigilance! I'd like to see someone attempt the Imperius curse on the likes of you two." Moody almost looked gleeful in which Alicia was surprised with. In fact she was more than surprised that she was able to resist the effects completely. Then again, she did have her mother's logic and blindly following an order such as a handstand was not logical.

"Wicked!" Ron grinned at her as she rejoined her classmates on the side of the room. "How did you do that?"

"He told me to do a handstand." Alicia said "What a pointless action."

"Can you do handstands?" Ron wondered

"Of course I can, cartwheels too." Alicia smirked.

"Potter! Back to the front! Let's see if you can resist completely!" Moody decided

"Bet he would have let me off if you hadn't succeeded." Harry muttered to his sister. Alicia shrugged but smiled guilty.

"Boy-who-lived, I doubt it." she confessed.

* * *

"The way he talks," Harry muttered as he hobbled out of the Defence Against the Dark Arts class an hour later (Moody had insisted on putting Harry through his paces four times in a row, until Harry could throw off the curse entirely), "you'd think we were all going to be attacked any second."

"Yeah, I know," said Ron, who was skipping on every alternate step. He had had much more difficulty with the curse than Harry, though Moody assured him the effects would wear off by lunch-time. "Talk about paranoid…"

"Personally I don't think he should be getting forth years to practice." Alicia grumbled

"Coming from you, you succeeded first try." Ron grumbled, glanced nervously over his shoulder to check that Moody was definitely out of earshot and went on. "No wonder they were glad to get shot of him at the Ministry. Did you hear him telling Seamus what he did to that witch who shouted 'Boo' behind him on April Fools' Day? And when are we supposed to read up on resisting the Imperius Curse with everything else we've got to do?"

All the fourth years had noticed a definite increase in the amount of work they were required to do this term. Professor McGonagall explained why, when the class gave a particularly loud groan at the amount of Transfiguration homework she had assigned.

"You are now entering a most important phase of your magical education!" she told them, her eyes glinting dangerously behind her square spectacles. "Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing closer —"

"We don't take O.W.L.s till fifth year!" said Dean Thomas indignantly.

"Maybe not, Thomas, but believe me, you need all the preparation you can get! Miss Granger and Miss Evan's remain the only people in this class who has managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. I might remind you that _your_ pincushion, Thomas, still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!"

Hermione, who had turned rather pink again, seemed to be trying not to look too pleased with herself. Alicia didn't seem to mind the praise and was changing her pincushion back into a hedgehog and then back to a pincushion again as though in boredom.

Arithmancy for the girls had begun to up their workload while Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, had them writing weekly essays on the goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century. Professor Snape was forcing them to research antidotes. They took this one seriously, as he had hinted that he might be poisoning one of them before Christmas to see if their antidote worked. Professor Flitwick had asked them to read three extra books in preparation for their lesson on Summoning Charms.

Even Hagrid was adding to their workload. The Blast-Ended Skrewts were growing at a remarkable pace given that nobody had yet discovered what they ate. Hagrid was delighted, and as part of their "project," suggested that they come down to his hut on alternate evenings to observe the skrewts and make notes on their extraordinary behaviour.

"I will not," said Draco Malfoy flatly when Hagrid had proposed this with the air of Father Christmas pulling an extra-large toy out of his sack. "I see enough of these foul things during lessons, thanks."

Hagrid's smile faded off his face.

"Yeh'll do wha' yer told," he growled, "or I'll be takin' a leaf outta Professor Moody's book… I hear yeh made a good ferret, Malfoy." The Gryffindors roared with laughter. Malfoy flushed with anger, but apparently the memory of Moody's punishment was still sufficiently painful to stop him from retorting. Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione returned to the castle at the end of the lesson in high spirits; seeing Hagrid put down Malfoy was particularly satisfying, especially because Malfoy had done his very best to get Hagrid sacked the previous year.

When they arrived in the entrance hall, they found themselves unable to proceed owing to the large crowd of students congregated there, all milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. Ron, the tallest of the three, stood on tiptoe to see over the heads in front of them and read the sign aloud to the other two:

 _ **TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT**_

 _The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early —_

"Brilliant!" said Harry. "It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"

 _Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast._

"This is getting exciting already." Alicia grinned as she turned to Hermione who nodded

"Only a week away!" said Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff, emerging from the crowd, his eyes gleaming. "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him…"

"Cedric?" said Ron blankly as Ernie hurried off.

"Diggory," said Harry. "He must be entering the tournament."

"That idiot, Hogwarts champion?" said Ron as they pushed their way through the chattering crowd toward the staircase.

"He's not an idiot. You just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor at Quidditch," said Hermione. "I've heard he's a really good student — _and_ he's a prefect." She spoke as though this settled the matter.

"You only like him because he's _handsome,_ " said Ron scathingly. Alicia snorted and Harry raised an eyebrow at her.

"You _don't_ like him because he's handsome." Alicia smirked

"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" said Hermione indignantly.  
Ron gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly like " _Lockhart!_ " causing Alicia to irrupt into a fit of laughter.

The appearance of the sign in the entrance hall had a marked effect upon the inhabitants of the castle. During the following week, there seemed to be only one topic of conversation, no matter where they went: the Triwizard Tournament. Rumours were flying from student to student like highly contagious germs: who was going to try for Hogwarts champion, what the tournament would involve, how the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang differed from themselves.

The twins both noticed too that the castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning. Several grimy portraits had been scrubbed, much to the displeasure of their subjects, who sat huddled in their frames muttering darkly and wincing as they felt their raw pink faces. The suits of armour were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking, and Argus Filch, the caretaker, was behaving so ferociously to any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics.

Other members of the staff seemed oddly tense too.

"Longbottom, kindly do _not_ reveal that you can't even perform a simple Switching Spell in front of anyone from Durmstrang!" Professor McGonagall barked at the end of one particularly difficult lesson, during which Neville had accidentally transplanted his own ears onto a cactus.

When they went down to breakfast on the morning of the thirtieth of October, they found that the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H.

Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down beside Fred and George at the Gryffindor table. Once again, and most unusually, they were sitting apart from everyone else and conversing in low voices. Ron led the way over to them.

"It's a bummer, all right," George was saying gloomily to Fred. "But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand. He can't avoid us forever."

"You'd be surprised." Alicia smirked as she sat down, grabbing the twins attention suddenly.

"Who's avoiding you?" said Ron, sitting down next to them.

"Wish you would," said Fred, looking irritated at the interruption.

"What's a bummer?" Ron asked George.

"Having a nosy git like you for a brother," said George.

"Curiosity is a curse." Alicia smirked as she leaned towards the mischievous twins, expecting answers.

"You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?" Harry asked changing the topic slightly. "Thought any more about trying to enter?"

"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling," said George bitterly. "She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon."

"Sounds like McGonagall." Alicia shrugged as she grabbed a few pancakes for her breakfast.

"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" said Ron thoughtfully. "You know, I bet we could do them, Harry. We've done dangerous stuff before…"

"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't," said Fred. "McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks."

"Ahh, but no one said judges would give out the points." Alicia grinned "I bet this judge is some object as well, harder to hoodwink. I mean I doubt they'd let a person pick who went into such dangerous tasks." she shrugged

"What makes you say that?" Ron questioned

"People's life in the hands of one person? Imagine the guilt if the champion was hurt or killed? Besides, people can be biased, objects can't." she shrugged as she placed her spoon covered in maple syrup in her mouth.

"Who are the judges?" Harry asked.

"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel," said Hermione, and everyone looked around at her, rather surprised, "because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage." Alicia rolled her eyes at the looks everyone was giving Hermione, clearly not having read the book they had.

"It's in _Hogwarts, A History_." she explained, gaining their attention. "It's one of the ways I knew what the tournament was too."

"Though, of course, that book's not entirely reliable." Hermione began " _A Revised History of Hogwarts_ would be a more accurate title. Or _A Highly Biased and Selective History of Hogwarts, Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School_." Alicia rolled her eyes and groaned slightly

"What are you on about?" said Ron, though Harry thought he knew what was coming.

" _House-elves_!" said Hermione, her eyes flashing. "Not once, in over a thousand pages, does _Hogwarts, A History_ mention that we are all colluding in the oppression of a hundred slaves!"

Harry shook his head and applied himself to his scrambled eggs. His, Alicia's nor Ron's lack of enthusiasm had done nothing whatsoever to curb Hermione's determination to pursue justice for house-elves.

Ron and Harry however had gotten Hermione off their back however by paying two Sickles for a S.P.E.W. badge, but they had only done it to keep her quiet. Alicia had refused to do so, stating Hermione's ideals were stupid and unnecessary to the majority of house elves but if she found some like Dobby she's be happy to help those elves.

The boys Sickles had been wasted, however; if anything, they seemed to have made Hermione more vociferous. She had been badgering Harry and Ron ever since, first to wear the badges, then to persuade others to do the same, and she had also taken to rattling around the Gryffindor common room every evening, cornering people and shaking the collecting tin under their noses.

"You do realise that your sheets are changed, your fires lit, your classrooms cleaned, and your food cooked by a group of magical creatures who are unpaid and enslaved?" she kept saying fiercely.

Some people, like Neville, had paid up just to stop Hermione from glowering at them. A few seemed mildly interested in what she had to say, but were reluctant to take a more active role in campaigning. Many regarded the whole thing as a joke.

Ron now rolled his eyes at the ceiling, which was flooding them all in autumn sunlight, and Fred became extremely interested in his bacon (both twins had refused to buy a S.P.E.W. badge). George, however, leaned in toward Hermione.

"Listen, have you ever been down in the kitchens, Hermione?"

"No, of course not," said Hermione curtly, "I hardly think students are supposed to —"

"Well, we have," said George, indicating Fred, "loads of times, to nick food. And we've met them, and they're _happy._ They think they've got the best job in the world —"

"That's because they're uneducated and brainwashed!" Hermione began hotly, but her next few words were drowned out by the sudden whooshing noise from overhead, which announced the arrival of the post owls.

"Noel!" Alicia said gaining the three's attention as the black owl soared towards her. Alicia grinned and took the letter from her owl before allowing the bird to pick from her plate. Harry looked up at once, and saw Hedwig soaring toward him as well. Hermione stopped talking abruptly; she and Ron watched Hedwig anxiously as she fluttered down onto Harry's shoulder, folded her wings, and held out her leg wearily.

Harry pulled off Sirius's reply and offered Hedwig his bacon rinds, which she ate gratefully. He and Alicia shared a look.

"You first." Alicia ushered. Checking that Fred and George were safely immersed in further discussions about the Triwizard Tournament, Harry read out Sirius's letter first in a whisper to Ron and Hermione, Alicia reading over his shoulder.

 _Nice try, Harry, Alicia wrote to me as well._

Harry shot her a look and she smiled guiltily.

 _I'm back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. Don't use Hedwig, keep changing owls, and don't worry about me, just watch out for yourself. Don't forget what I said about your scar._

 _Sirius_

"Why d'you have to keep changing owls?" Ron asked in a low voice.

"Hedwig'll attract too much attention," said Hermione at once. "She stands out. A snowy owl that keeps returning to wherever he's hiding… I mean, they're not native birds, are they?"

Harry turned to Alicia and nudged her. She sighed and opened her own letter.

 _Alicia,_

 _I'm back in the country, I'm sure you've read the letter I sent Harry. I'm concerned for the both of you._

 _Muggles and wizards starting to go missing, strange deaths as far as the muggles are aware, one in particular which is being treated as confusing. Bertha Jonkins for example. The Dark Mark at the world cup is just a larger sign that things are heating up. But these disappearances that have begun occurring are just how everything started last time._

 _If you and Harry are connected and having the same dream, as vivid or not as you say, then it's definitely a cause for worry. Has it happened again? To either of you? You say you remember, what happened? At least if I'm close I can reply to your letters quicker if anything happens._

 _I read about the Tournament in the paper, everything begins soon doesn't it? Be extra careful with this though, if there is someone within the walls of Hogwarts, and they're after Harry, then you can't relax because of this. With something as dangerous and as time consuming as the tournament, the distraction could be used as an advantage…_

 _Keep me posted on what's going on and make sure you and Harry stick together. It's unfortunately about Quidditch though, it's always a good way of distracting your mind._

 _As I said with Hedwig, make sure you change owls, even Noel is easily spotted and especially if the two keep coming together._

 _Watch your back, and remember what I said about your scar and dreams._

 _Sirius_

"What did you say to him?" Harry whispered

"Everything?" Alicia asked obviously "Who else am I going to confide in? Besides, if things are happening, I want to know about it." she quickly folded the letter and put it away within her robes.

"What did he say?" Hermione asked, drawing the twins' attention. Alicia and Harry had read the letter to themselves as she and Ron had watched.

"Pretty much the same as Harry." Alicia sighed as she tucked back into her breakfast. Ron turned to Harry while Hermione seemed suspicious about the answer.

"Thanks Hedwig." Harry stocked his bird

"You two need a long rest." Alicia smiled, feeding Noel a bit of Harry's bacon. Both birds gave a soft hoot before they flew off into the air and headed out for the Owlery, in need for a long rest.

There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter. When the bell rang early, Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall.

The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.

"Weasley, straighten your hat," Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair."

Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait.

"Follow me, please," said Professor McGonagall. "First years in front… no pushing…"

"I feel she's more nervous than excited." Alicia muttered to Harry who nodded

They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Harry, standing between Ron and Alicia, Hermione on Alicia's other side, in the fourth row from the front, saw Dennis Creevey positively shivering with anticipation among the other first years.

"Nearly six," said Ron, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that led to the front gates. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"

"I doubt it," said Hermione.

"How, then? Broomsticks?" Harry suggested, looking up at the starry sky.

"Don't be silly." Alicia shook her head

"I don't think so… not from that far away…"

"A Portkey?" Ron suggested. "Or they could Apparate — maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"

"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?" said Hermione impatiently.

"It'll be something more practical, like a plane… or, cars depending on where about's their school is." Alicia thought

"What if it's across the ocean?" Harry wondered "You said Bauxbatons are French?" he remained her

"Maybe a boat then?" Alicia shrugged.

They scanned the darkening grounds excitedly, but nothing was moving; everything was still, silent, and quite as usual. The air was getting colder as the school waited, Alicia felt goosebumps rise on her arms and the anticipation on how the foreign students were arriving was getting to her. Where they preparing a dramatic entrance or something?

And then Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers —

"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.

" _There_!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest.

Something large, much larger than a broomstick — or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks — was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.

"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely.

"Don't be stupid… it's a flying house!" said Dennis Creevey.

Dennis's guess was closer… As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder- blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.

"Well… it's like a plane." Alicia shrugged and Ron rolled his eyes.

The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed — then, with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backward onto a Slytherin fifth year's foot, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes.

Alicia saw the coat of arms on the door of the carriage, two crossed, golden wands, each emitting three stars, before the door itself opened.

A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully. Then they watched as a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage — a shoe the size of a child's sled — followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman Alicia had ever seen in her life. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped.

Alicia and Harry shared a look, they had only ever seen one person as large as this woman in their lives, and that was Hagrid; both doubted whether there was an inch difference in their heights. Yet somehow — maybe simply because they was used to Hagrid — this woman (now at the foot of the steps, and looking around at the waiting, wide-eyed crowd) seemed even more unnaturally large. As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.

Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman.

Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.

"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dorr," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.

"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.

Alicia was watching eagerly as about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads. From what she could see, Alicia guessed their school wasn't a castle as they were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces.

" 'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.

"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"

"Warm up, I think," said Madame Maxime. "But ze 'orses —"

"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other — er — charges."

"Skrewts," Ron muttered to Harry, grinning.

"My steeds require — er — forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job. "Zey are very strong…"

"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, smiling.

"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?" Alicia chuckled at that.

"It will be attended to," said Dumbledore, also bowing.

"Come," said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.

"How big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?" Seamus Finnigan said, leaning around Lavender and Parvati to address Harry and Ron.

"Well, if they're any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid won't be able to handle them," said Harry.

"That's if he hasn't been attacked by his skrewts. Wonder what's up with them?"

"Maybe they've escaped," said Ron hopefully.

"Oh don't say that," said Hermione with a shudder. "Imagine that lot loose on the grounds…"

"I think it'd be boring if Durmstrang came with a carriage and horses too." Alicia sighed "Besides, the name Bauxbatons kind of reflect the winged horses, Durmstrang sounds more like a dragon name."

"You're guessing by the name?" Ron wondered

"I'm good with information." Alicia shrugged with a grin.

They stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky.

For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then —

"Can you hear something?" said Ron suddenly.

Alicia and Harry listened; a loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed…

"The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"

From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water — except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the centre; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks — and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor…

"Bet it's a boat."

"From the bottom of a lake? More like a submarine!" Ron grinned.

Everyone watched as what seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool… and then Harry saw the rigging…

"It's a mast!" he said to Ron and Hermione. Alicia gave Ron a look and he rolled his eyes at her.

Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.

People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. All of them seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle… but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, they saw that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.

"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"

"Karkaroff." Alicia breathed.

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied.

Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.

"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and Alicia's eyes narrowed slightly as, although he smiled, his eyes were cold and hollow, untouched by the smile. "How good it is to be here, how good… Viktor, come along, into the warmth… you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold…"

Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Alicia's mouth dropped open as she caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. Ron punched Harry at her side.

"Harry — _it's Krum_!"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

"I don't believe it!" Ron said, in a stunned voice, as the Hogwarts students filed back up the steps behind the party from Durmstrang. "Krum, Harry! _Viktor Krum_!"

"Yes Ron, we can see that." Alicia said, only half paying attention as she watched the Durmstrang professor with his, clearly, prized student.

"For heaven's sake, Ron, he's only a Quidditch player," said Hermione.

" _Only a Quidditch player_?" Ron said, looking at her as though he couldn't believe his ears. "Hermione — he's one of the best Seekers in the world! I had no idea he was still at school!"

"Of course he is? You said he was only about seventeen." Alicia reminded the boy.

As they recrossed the entrance hall with the rest of the Hogwarts students heading for the Great Hall, Lee Jordan jumping up and down on the soles of his feet to get a better look at the back of Krum's head. Several sixth-year girls were frantically searching their pockets as they walked —

"Oh I don't believe it, I haven't got a single quill on me —"

"D'you think he'd sign my hat in lipstick?"

"Really?" Alicia sighed

" _Really,_ " Hermione said loftily as they passed the girls, now squabbling over the lipstick.

" _I'm_ getting his autograph if I can," said Ron. "You haven't got a quill, have you, Harry?"

"Nope, they're upstairs in my bag," said Harry.

They walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Ron took care to sit on the side facing the doorway, because Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students were still gathered around it, apparently unsure about where they should sit. The students from Beauxbatons had chosen seats at the Ravenclaw table. They were looking around the Great Hall with glum expressions on their faces. Three of them were still clutching scarves and shawls around their heads.

"It's not _that_ cold," said Hermione defensively. "Why didn't they bring cloaks?"

"Maybe it's warmer where they are?" Alicia offered

"Over here! Come and sit over here!" Ron hissed. "Over here! Hermione, budge up, make a space —"

"What?"

"Too late," said Ron bitterly.

Viktor Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students had settled themselves at the Slytherin table. Harry could see Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle looking very smug about this. As he watched, Malfoy bent forward to speak to Krum.

"They'll be no living with him after this." Alicia grumbled irritably.

"Yeah, that's right, smarm up to him, Malfoy," said Ron scathingly. "I bet Krum can see right through him, though… bet he gets people fawning over him all the time… Where d'you reckon they're going to sleep? We could offer him a space in our dormitory, Harry… I wouldn't mind giving him my bed, I could kip on a camp bed."

Both Alicia and Hermione snorted.

"Now you're being silly." Alicia believed

"They look a lot happier than the Beauxbatons lot," said Harry. The Durmstrang students were pulling off their heavy furs and looking up at the starry black ceiling with expressions of interest; a couple of them were picking up the golden plates and goblets and examining them, apparently impressed.

Up at the staff table, Filch, the caretaker, was adding chairs. He was wearing his mouldy old tailcoat in honour of the occasion. Harry and Alicia were surprised to see that he added four chairs, two on either side of Dumbledore's.

"But there are only two extra people," Harry said. "Why's Filch putting out four chairs, who else is coming?"

"Eh?" said Ron vaguely. He was still staring avidly at Krum.

"Well, let's see…" Alicia tapped her chin as she thought. "One could be for Ludo Bagman."

"Why?" Harry asked

"Well he's the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, who organised the tournament." she shrugged "And if Percy's anything to go by then you might find someone from Mr Crouch's department is coming also as a representative of the ministry."

"It's scary how your brain works sometimes." Ron muttered but Alicia only smiled.

When all the students had entered the Hall and settled down at their House tables, the staff entered, filing up to the top table and taking their seats. Last in line were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime. When their headmistress appeared, the pupils from Beauxbatons leapt to their feet. A few of the Hogwarts students laughed. The Beauxbatons party appeared quite unembarrassed, however, and did not resume their seats until Madame Maxime had sat down on Dumbledore's left-hand side. Dumbledore remained standing, and a silence fell over the Great Hall.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and — most particularly — guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."

One of the Beauxbatons girls still clutching a muffler around her head gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh.

"No one's making you stay!" Hermione whispered, bristling at her. Alicia nudged her friend in the ribs.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

He sat down, and Harry saw Karkaroff lean forward at once and engage him in conversation.

The plates in front of them filled with food as usual. The house-elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them than Harry had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign.

"What's _that_?" said Ron, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding.

"Bouillabaisse," said Hermione.

"Bless you," said Ron.

"It's _French,_ " said Hermione, "I had it on holiday summer before last. It's very nice."

"I'll take your word for it," said Ron, helping himself to black pudding.

"How did you survive in Egypt without trying something new?" Alicia wondered as she grabbed some of a dish that Harry had never seen before.

"I'm not eating something I don't like." Ron said

"How do you know you don't like it if you haven't tried it?" Alicia questioned

"Sorry mum." Alicia rolled her eyes

The Great Hall seemed somehow much more crowded than usual, even though there were barely twenty additional students there; perhaps it was because their differently coloured uniforms stood out so clearly against the black of the Hogwarts' robes. Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep blood red.

Hagrid sidled into the Hall through a door behind the staff table twenty minutes after the start of the feast. He slid into his seat at the end and waved at Harry, Alicia Ron, and Hermione with a very heavily bandaged hand.

"Skrewts doing all right, Hagrid?" Harry called.

"Thrivin'," Hagrid called back happily.

"Yeah, I'll just bet they are," said Ron quietly. "Looks like they've finally found a food they like, doesn't it? Hagrid's fingers."

At that moment, a voice said, "Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?"

It was the girl from Beauxbatons who had laughed during Dumbledore's speech. She had finally removed her muffler. A long sheet of silvery-blonde hair fell almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes, and very white, even teeth.

Ron went purple. He stared up at her, opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out except a faint gurgling noise.

"No, we're done with it." Alicia smiled

"Yeah, have it," said Harry, pushing the dish toward the girl.

"You 'ave finished wiz it?"

"Yeah," Ron said breathlessly. "Yeah, it was excellent."

The girl picked up the dish and carried it carefully off to the Ravenclaw table. Ron was still goggling at the girl as though he had never seen one before. Harry and Alicia both started to laugh. The sound seemed to jog Ron back to his senses.

"She's a _veela_!" he said hoarsely to Harry.

"Of course she isn't!" said Hermione tartly. "I don't see anyone else gaping at her like an idiot!"

But she wasn't entirely right about that. As the girl crossed the Hall, many boys' heads turned, and some of them seemed to have become temporarily speechless, just like Ron.

"I'm telling you, that's not a normal girl!" said Ron, leaning sideways so he could keep a clear view of her. "They don't make them like that at Hogwarts!"

"That's nice." Alicia grumbled, her eyes plain and slightly narrowed.

"They make them okay at Hogwarts," said Harry without thinking. Cho happened to be sitting only a few places away from the girl with the silvery hair.

Alicia rolled her eyes and a movement caught them up at the teachers table.

"When you've both put your eyes back in," said Hermione briskly, "you'll be able to see who's just arrived."

She was pointing up at the staff table. The two remaining empty seats had just been filled. Ludo Bagman was now sitting on Professor Karkaroff's other side, while Mr. Crouch, Percy's boss, was next to Madame Maxime.

"I don't mean to brag but… I'm a genius." Alicia said obviously proud of herself.

"What are _they_ doing here?" said Harry in surprise.

"They organised the Triwizard Tournament, didn't they?" said Hermione. "I suppose they wanted to be here to see it start."

When the second course arrived they noticed a number of unfamiliar desserts too. Ron examined an odd sort of pale blancmange closely, then moved it carefully a few inches to his right, so that it would be clearly visible from the Ravenclaw table. The girl who looked like a veela appeared to have eaten enough, however, and did not come over to get it.

Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now. Alicia felt excitement and the anticipation of meeting this imperial judge was growing within her as she watched the teacher's table in waiting. Several seats down from them, Fred and George were leaning forward, staring at Dumbledore with great concentration.

"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket —"

"The what?" Harry muttered.

Ron shrugged.

"— just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" — there was a smattering of polite applause — "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likeable. He acknowledged it with a jovial wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced. Remembering him in his neat suit at the Quidditch World Cup, Harry thought he looked strange in wizard's robes. His toothbrush moustache and severe parting looked very odd next to Dumbledore's long white hair and beard.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

"Of course." Alicia said, hitting herself in the forehead

"You can't predict everything." Ron shrugged

"I can try." she mumbled before turning back to Dumbledore.

At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."

Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students; Dennis Creevey actually stood on his chair to see it properly, but, being so tiny, his head hardly rose above anyone else's.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways… their magical prowess — their daring — their powers of deduction — and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

"Ron's right then, maybe we could do it." Alicia muttered with a roll of the eyes.

At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.

Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

"An Age Line!" Fred Weasley said, his eyes glinting, as they all made their way across the Hall to the doors into the entrance hall. "Well, that should be fooled by an Ageing Potion, shouldn't it? And once your name's in that goblet, you're laughing — it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not!"

"Are you forgetting who's drawing the age line?" Alicia asked

"But I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance," said Hermione, "we just haven't learned enough…"

"Speak for yourself," said George shortly. "You'll try and get in, won't you, Harry?"

Alicia looked at Harry and saw the thought crossing his mind. Of course if someone under the age of seventeen did pass and become a champion, who knows what would happen, would they cancel or forbid the participant despite this magical contract?

"Where is he?" said Ron, who wasn't listening to a word of this conversation, but looking through the crowd to see what had become of Krum. "Dumbledore didn't say where the Durmstrang people are sleeping, did he?"

But this query was answered almost instantly; they were level with the Slytherin table now, and Karkaroff had just bustled up to his students.

"Back to the ship, then," he was saying. "Viktor, how are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send for some mulled wine from the kitchens?"

Harry saw Krum shake his head as he pulled his furs back on.

"Professor, _I_ vood like some vine," said one of the other Durmstrang boys hopefully.

"I wasn't offering it to _you,_ Poliakoff," snapped Karkaroff, his warmly paternal air vanishing in an instant. "I notice you have dribbled food all down the front of your robes again, disgusting boy —"

"Well he isn't playing favourites." Alicia rolled her eyes

"No more than Dumbledore to you two." Ron muttered to her and Harry

"He doesn't." Alicia disagreed, "And if he did, at least Dumbledore doesn't show it."

Karkaroff turned and led his students toward the doors, reaching them at exactly the same moment as Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione. Harry stopped to let him walk through first.

"Thank you," said Karkaroff carelessly, glancing at him.

And then Karkaroff froze. He turned his head back to Harry and stared at him as though he couldn't believe his eyes. Behind their headmaster, the students from Durmstrang came to a halt too. Karkaroff's eyes moved slowly up Harry's face and fixed upon his scar. The Durmstrang students were staring curiously at Harry too.

Alicia sighed and waited for them to get over the surprise of meeting Harry Potter but her sigh caught Karkaroff's attention. His eyes examined her for a few minutes before they switched back and forth between the twins.

Out of the corner of their eye, comprehension dawned on a few of the Durmstrang faces. The boy with food all down his front nudged the girl next to him and pointed openly at Harry's forehead.

"Yeah, that's Harry Potter," said a growling voice from behind them.

Professor Karkaroff spun around. Mad-Eye Moody was standing there, leaning heavily on his staff, his magical eye glaring unblinkingly at the Durmstrang headmaster.

The colour drained from Karkaroff's face as Harry and Alicia watched. A terrible look of mingled fury and fear came over him.

"You!" he said, staring at Moody as though unsure he was really seeing him.

"Me," said Moody grimly. "And unless you've got anything to say to Potter, Karkaroff, you might want to move. You're blocking the doorway."

It was true; half the students in the Hall were now waiting behind them, looking over one another's shoulders to see what was causing the holdup.

Without another word, Professor Karkaroff swept his students away with him. Moody watched him until he was out of sight, his magical eye fixed upon his back, a look of intense dislike upon his mutilated face.

"Well that was interesting." Alicia confessed.

* * *

As the next day was Saturday, most students would normally have breakfasted late. Harry, Alicia Ron, and Hermione, however, were not alone in rising much earlier than they usually did on weekends. When they went down into the entrance hall, they saw about twenty people milling around it, some of them eating toast, all examining the Goblet of Fire. It had been placed in the centre of the hall on the stool that normally bore the Sorting Hat. A thin golden line had been traced on the floor, forming a circle ten feet around it in every direction.

"Anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked a third-year girl eagerly.

"All the Durmstrang lot," she replied.

"Aren't they eager." Alicia said

"But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet."

"Bet some of them put it in last night after we'd all gone to bed," said Harry. "I would've if it had been me… wouldn't have wanted everyone watching. What if the goblet just gobbed you right back out again?"

Someone laughed behind the four. Turning, Alicia saw Fred, George, and Lee Jordan hurrying down the staircase, all three of them looking extremely excited.

"Well this'll be fun." she smirked

"Done it," Fred said in a triumphant whisper to Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione. "Just taken it."

"What?" said Ron.

"The Ageing Potion, dung brains," said Fred.

"One drop each," said George, rubbing his hands together with glee. "We only need to be a few months older."

"We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," said Lee, grinning broadly.

"I'm not sure this is going to work, you know," said Hermione warningly "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."

"It's going to be funny to see the result of their stupidity though," Alicia smirked, crossing her arms over her chest and waiting with anticipation.

Fred, George, and Lee ignored her.

"Ready?" Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement.

"C'mon, then — I'll go first —"

Harry watched, fascinated, as Fred pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket bearing the words _Fred Weasley_ — _Hogwarts._ Fred walked right up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line.

For a split second Harry thought it had worked — George certainly thought so, for he let out a yell of triumph and leapt after Fred — but next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both twins were hurled out of the golden circle as though they had been thrown by an invisible shot-putter. They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor, and to add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them sprouted identical long white beards.

Alicia was first to start laughing, mostly at their failure, but her laugh grew when she saw the beards, everyone in the entrance hall joining her. Even Fred and George joined in, once they had gotten to their feet and taken a good look at each other's beards.

"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."

Fred and George set off for the hospital wing, accompanied by Lee, who was howling with laughter, and Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione, also chortling, went in to breakfast.

The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this morning. As it was Halloween, a cloud of live bats was fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner. Harry led the way over to Dean and Seamus, who were discussing those Hogwarts students of seventeen or over who might be entering.

"There's a rumour going around that Warrington got up early and put his name in," Dean told Harry. "That big bloke from Slytherin who looks like a sloth."

Harry and Alicia, who had played Quidditch against Warrington, shook their heads in disgust.

"We can't have a Slytherin champion!" Harry believed

"We'd never hear the end of it, they're self-centred enough as it is already." Alicia agreed

"And all the Hufflepuffs are talking about Diggory," said Seamus contemptuously. "But I wouldn't have thought he'd have wanted to risk his good looks."

"Listen!" said Hermione suddenly.

People were cheering out in the entrance hall. They all swivelled around in their seats and saw Angelina Johnson coming into the Hall, grinning in an embarrassed sort of way. A tall black girl who played Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Angelina came over to them, sat down, and said, "Well, I've done it! Just put my name in!"

"You're kidding!" said Ron, looking impressed.

"Are you seventeen, then?" asked Harry.

" 'Course she is, can't see a beard, can you?" said Ron.

"I had my birthday last week," said Angelina.

"Well, I'm glad someone from Gryffindor's entering," said Hermione. "I really hope you get it, Angelina!"

"Thanks, Hermione," said Angelina, smiling at her.

"I think you'd be excellent." Alicia nodded in agreement, earning a thanks and a smile.

"Yeah, better you than Pretty-Boy Diggory," said Seamus, causing several Hufflepuffs passing their table to scowl heavily at him.

"What're we going to do today, then?" Ron asked Harry, Alicia and Hermione when they had finished breakfast and were leaving the Great Hall.

"We haven't been down to visit Hagrid yet," said Harry.

"Okay," said Ron, "just as long as he doesn't ask us to donate a few fingers to the skrewts."

A look of great excitement suddenly dawned on Hermione's face.

"I've just realised — I haven't asked Hagrid to join S.P.E.W. yet!" she said brightly. "Wait for me, will you, while I nip upstairs and get the badges?"

"No we're gonna leave without you." Alicia rolled her eyes

"What is it with her?" said Ron, exasperated, as Hermione ran away up the marble staircase.

"I'm really going to crack it is she continues with this after the house-elves have refused her help." Alicia confessed

"Hey, Ron," said Harry suddenly. "It's your friend…"

The students from Beauxbatons were coming through the front doors from the grounds, among them, the veela-girl. Those gathered around the Goblet of Fire stood back to let them pass, watching eagerly.

Madame Maxime entered the hall behind her students and organised them into a line. One by one, the Beauxbatons students stepped across the Age Line and dropped their slips of parchment into the blue-white flames. As each name entered the fire, it turned briefly red and emitted sparks.

"What d'you reckon'll happen to the ones who aren't chosen?" Ron muttered to Harry as the veela-girl dropped her parchment into the Goblet of Fire. "Reckon they'll go back to school, or hang around to watch the tournament?"

"Dunno," said Harry. "Hang around, I suppose… Madame Maxime's staying to judge, isn't she?"

"I think they'll stay." Alicia nodded "Even if they can't participate they can still support their champion."

When all the Beauxbatons students had submitted their names, Madame Maxime led them back out of the hall and out onto the grounds again.

"Where are _they_ sleeping, then?" said Ron, moving toward the front doors and staring after them.

"Probably in their house of a carriage." Alicia said watching also.

A loud rattling noise behind them announced Hermione's reappearance with the box of S.P.E.W. badges.

"Oh good, hurry up," said Ron, and he jumped down the stone steps, keeping his eyes on the back of the veela-girl, who was now halfway across the lawn with Madame Maxime.

As they neared Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the mystery of the Beauxbatons' sleeping quarters was solved. The gigantic powder-blue carriage in which they had arrived had been parked two hundred yards from Hagrid's front door, and the students were climbing back inside it. The elephantine flying horses that had pulled the carriage were now grazing in a makeshift paddock alongside it.

Harry knocked on Hagrid's door, and Fang's booming barks answered instantly

"'Bout time!" said Hagrid, when he'd flung open the door. "Thought you lot'd forgotten where I live!"

"We've been really busy, Hag —" Hermione started to say, but then she stopped dead, looking up at Hagrid, apparently lost for words.

Hagrid was wearing his best (and very horrible) hairy brown suit, plus a checked yellow-and-orange tie. This wasn't the worst of it, though; he had evidently tried to tame his hair, using large quantities of what appeared to be axle grease. It was now slicked down into two bunches — perhaps he had tried a ponytail like Bill's, but found he had too much hair. The look didn't really suit Hagrid at all. For a moment, Hermione goggled at him, then, obviously deciding not to comment, she said, "Erm — where are the skrewts?"

"Out by the pumpkin patch," said Hagrid happily. "They're gettin' massive, mus' be nearly three foot long now. On'y trouble is, they've started killin' each other."

"Oh no, really?" said Hermione, shooting a repressive look at Ron, who, staring at Hagrid's odd hairstyle, had just opened his mouth to say something about it.

"Yeah," said Hagrid sadly. " 'S' okay, though, I've got 'em in separate boxes now. Still got abou' twenty."

"Well, that's lucky," said Ron. Hagrid missed the sarcasm.

Hagrid's cabin comprised a single room, in one corner of which was a gigantic bed covered in a patchwork quilt. A similarly enormous wooden table and chairs stood in front of the fire beneath the quantity of cured hams and dead birds hanging from the ceiling. They sat down at the table while Hagrid started to make tea, and were soon immersed in yet more discussion of the Triwizard Tournament. Hagrid seemed quite as excited about it as they were.

"You wait," he said, grinning. "You jus' wait. Yer going ter see some stuff yeh've never seen before. Firs' task… ah, but I'm not supposed ter say."

"Go on, Hagrid!" Harry, Ron, and Hermione urged him, but he just shook his head, grinning.

"I don' want ter spoil it fer yeh," said Hagrid. "But it's gonna be spectacular, I'll tell yeh that. Them champions're going ter have their work cut out. Never thought I'd live ter see the Triwizard Tournament played again!"

"What's happening with dragons!?" Alicia suddenly asked eyes glinting "Ron's brother Charlie said we might see him soon! Are they one of the challenges?" Hagrid look surprised for a minute before grinning

"Should'o known you'd put tha' together Alicia, but I'm not sayin' a word." he decided and Alicia slumped into her chair disappointed.

They ended up having lunch with Hagrid, though they didn't eat much — Hagrid had made what he said was a beef casserole, but after Hermione unearthed a large talon in hers, she, Alicia, Harry, and Ron rather lost their appetites. However, they enjoyed themselves trying to make Hagrid tell them what the tasks in the tournament were going to be, speculating which of the entrants were likely to be selected as champions, and wondering whether Fred and George were beardless yet.

A light rain had started to fall by midafternoon; it was very cozy sitting by the fire, listening to the gentle patter of the drops on the window, watching Hagrid darning his socks and arguing with Hermione about house-elves — for he flatly refused to join S.P.E.W. when she showed him her badges just as Alicia had.

"It'd be doin' 'em an unkindness, Hermione," he said gravely, threading a massive bone needle with thick yellow yarn. "It's in their nature ter look after humans, that's what they like, see? Yeh'd be makin' 'em unhappy ter take away their work, an' insultin' 'em if yeh tried ter pay 'em."

"But Harry set Dobby free, and he was over the moon about it!" said Hermione. " _And_ we heard he's asking for wages now!"

"Yeah, well, yeh get weirdos in every breed. I'm not sayin' there isn't the odd elf who'd take freedom, but yeh'll never persuade most of 'em ter do it — no, nothin' doin', Hermione."

Hermione looked very cross indeed and stuffed her box of badges back into her cloak pocket.

By half past five it was growing dark, and Ron, Alicia, Harry, and Hermione decided it was time to get back up to the castle for the Halloween feast — and, more important, the announcement of the school champions.

"I'll come with yeh," said Hagrid, putting away his darning. "Jus' give us a sec."

Hagrid got up, went across to the chest of drawers beside his bed, and began searching for something inside it. They didn't pay too much attention until a truly horrible smell reached their nostrils. Coughing, Ron said, "Hagrid, what's that?"

"Eh?" said Hagrid, turning around with a large bottle in his hand. "Don' yeh like it?"

"Is that aftershave?" said Hermione in a slightly choked voice. Alicia however had a hand over her nose.

"Hagrid, you don't need that stuff." she assured

"Er — eau de cologne," Hagrid muttered. He was blushing. "Maybe it's a bit much," he said gruffly. "I'll go take it off, hang on…"

He stumped out of the cabin, and they saw him washing himself vigorously in the water barrel outside the window.

"Eau de cologne?" said Hermione in amazement. " _Hagrid_?"

"And what's with the hair and the suit?" said Harry in an undertone.

"It's like he's cleaned up and trying to be impressive…" Alicia muttered

"Look!" said Ron suddenly, pointing out of the window.

Hagrid had just straightened up and turned 'round. If he had been blushing before, it was nothing to what he was doing now. Getting to their feet very cautiously, so that Hagrid wouldn't spot them, Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione peered through the window and saw that Madame Maxime and the Beauxbatons students had just emerged from their carriage, clearly about to set off for the feast too. They couldn't hear what Hagrid was saying, but he was talking to Madame Maxime with a rapt, misty-eyed expression Harry had only ever seen him wear once before — when he had been looking at the baby dragon, Norbert.

"He's going up to the castle with her!" said Hermione indignantly. "I thought he was waiting for us!"

"I'm feeling rejected." Alicia frowned with a sigh.

Without so much as a backward glance at his cabin, Hagrid was trudging off up the grounds with Madame Maxime, the Beauxbatons students following in their wake, jogging to keep up with their enormous strides.

"He fancies her!" said Ron incredulously. "Well, if they end up having children, they'll be setting a world record — bet any baby of theirs would weigh about a ton."

They let themselves out of the cabin and shut the door behind them. It was surprisingly dark outside. Drawing their cloaks more closely around themselves, they set off up the sloping lawns.

"Ooh it's them, look!" Hermione whispered.

The Durmstrang party was walking up toward the castle from the lake. Viktor Krum was walking side by side with Karkaroff, and the other Durmstrang students were straggling along behind them. Ron watched Krum excitedly, but Krum did not look around as he reached the front doors a little ahead of Hermione, Ron, Alicia and Harry and proceeded through them.

When they entered the candlelit Great Hall it was almost full. The Goblet of Fire had been moved; it was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teachers' table. Fred and George — clean-shaven again — seemed to have taken their disappointment fairly well.

"Hope it's Angelina," said Fred as Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down.

"So do I!" said Hermione breathlessly. "Well, we'll soon know!"

The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual, Alicia assumed it was because everyone was looking forward to the selection of champions more than the feast itself. That or because it was their second feast in two days, Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting, and the standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished eating yet, Alicia simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions.

At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" — he indicated the door behind the staff table — "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting… A few people kept checking their watches…

"Any second," Lee Jordan whispered, two seats away from Harry.

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it — the whole room gasped.

Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

"Naturally." Alicia nodded

"No surprises there!" yelled Ron as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Harry saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.

"Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

"It's her, Ron!" Harry shouted as the girl who so resembled a veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party.

"Disappointed" seemed a bit of an understatement. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms.

"They'll get over it, maybe even realise the challenges are more than they could handle." Alicia shrugged uncaringly, her eyes on the goblet as the Hogwarts champion was next.

When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion next…

And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

"No!" said Ron loudly, but nobody heard him except Alicia and Harry; the uproar from the next table was too great. Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real —"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. Alicia, as well as a few other students around the room stood to their feet slowly in confusion and anticipation. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out —

" _Harry Potter_."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

Alicia's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and she turned from Dumbledore, who was staring at her as an indicator as to Harry's whereabouts, to Harry. He was clearly stunned as everyone in the Great Hall turned to stare at him.

Alicia shook her head slightly looking back at Dumbledore, there was no way Harry's name was called out. He wasn't seventeen and he'd been with her ever since the cup came out yesterday, otherwise sleeping. Plus, Harry wasn't stupid enough to enter in the competition, sure he'd thought about it, sure they'd done dangerous things, but Harry had never purposely put himself in the line of fire, and this was no exception.

There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were standing up to get a better look at Harry as he sat, frozen, in his seat.

Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly.

Harry turned to Ron and Hermione; beyond them, he saw the long Gryffindor table all watching him, openmouthed.

"I didn't put my name in," Harry said blankly. "You know I didn't."

Both of them stared just as blankly back.

Harry turned to Alicia who shook her head.

"There's no way you put your name in." She said strongly, looking back at Dumbledore and refusing to sit down, even if many were looking at her beside her twin.

At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall.

"Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

"Go on," Hermione whispered, giving Harry a slight push. Harry got to his feet, trod on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly. He looked at Alicia standing beside him and she looked determined on following him up the length of the Great Hall. She looked back at Dumbledore who gave her a look as though knowing what she was thinking, a look that told her to stay where she was.

With a look at Harry, reassuring him and giving him a nod, he set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. Hundreds of eyes followed him as Harry moved to the teacher's table and Alicia bit her lip, her mind racing to try and figure out how and why Harry's name had come out. How was that possible? Could someone else really put a different name in the cup? Would the Goblet of Fire not be able to detect that? If it can detect a person's strength and bravery just by a piece of parchment she doubted that very much.

The buzzing grew louder and louder. After what seemed like an hour, he was right in front of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon him.

"Well… through the door, Harry," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling.

Harry moved off along the teachers' table. Hagrid was seated right at the end. He did not wink at Harry, or wave, or give any of his usual signs of greeting. He looked completely astonished and stared at Harry as he passed like everyone else. Harry went through the door out of the Great Hall and Alicia fell back into her chair with a thump.

Alicia hardly heard as Dumbledore congratulated the champions and dismissed everyone without a word about Harry, whether he could enter or not or what was going to happen. What she did hear however, was her name.

"Miss Evans." she looked up to see everyone look at her as they'd gotten from their seats. Almost the entire Great Hall paused as Dumbledore waved her to him. Alicia ignored everyone, even Ron and Hermione and very quickly made her way to the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall.

"Professor, what's going on?" she asked as she stood before them "What… How did…?" she couldn't figure out what question to ask first.

"Come with me Alicia." Dumbledore instructed and he guided her to the door Harry and just disappeared through. She noticed Bagman had already vanished from the table, behind her, Karkaroff, Maxime, Crouch, Snape and McGonagall were all following as Dumbledore lead her through the door, their departure seeming to start up the gossip of the Great Hall as everyone began to move out to their common rooms.

As soon as she spotted him Alicia moved to Harry, who gave her a confused look as to why she was here. Naturally Alicia shrugged, still not knowing.

"Are you alright?" she wondered quietly. Harry didn't answer.

"Madame Maxime!" said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. "Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!"

 _Little boy?_ Alicia wondered, there was only a three year age difference.

Madame Maxime had drawn herself up to her full, and considerable, height. The top of her handsome head brushed the candle-filled chandelier, and her gigantic black-satin bosom swelled.

"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she said imperiously.

"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. Alicia thought he was very much enjoying this for some reason… " _Two_ Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions — or have I not read the rules carefully enough?"

He gave a short and nasty laugh.

" _C'est impossible,_ " said Madame Maxime, whose enormous hand with its many superb opals was resting upon Fleur's shoulder. " 'Ogwarts cannot 'ave two champions. It is most injust."

"We were under the impression that your Age Line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, his steely smile still in place, though his eyes were colder than ever. "Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools."

"It's no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff," said Snape softly. His black eyes were alight with malice. Alicia turned to glare at the potions master. "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here —"

"Thank you, Severus," said Dumbledore firmly, and Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair.

Professor Dumbledore was now looking down at Harry, who looked right back at him, trying to discern the expression of the eyes behind the half-moon spectacles.

"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" he asked calmly.

"No," said Harry. He was very aware of everybody watching him closely. Snape made a soft noise of impatient disbelief in the shadows.

"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?" said Professor Dumbledore, ignoring Snape.

" _No,_ " said Harry vehemently.

"Ah, but of course 'e is lying!" cried Madame Maxime. Snape was now shaking his head, his lip curling.

"Alicia," Dumbledore turned to her and she raised a questioning eyebrow "Did Harry put his name in the Goblet of Fire?" he asked her

"Of course not! Harry's been with me all day today and all yesterday evening." she confessed "Unless he snuck out while we were sleeping he didn't do it, and if you want proof he didn't sneak out, ask the Fat Lady Portrait in front of the Gryffindor entrance hole if anyone left last night." she said strongly, looking at every single teacher, but her eyes rested on Dumbledore last, trying to convey the meaning that she hadn't said 'seen leaving the common room'.

"He could not have crossed the Age Line," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "I am sure we are all agreed on that —"

"Dumbly-dorr must 'ave made a mistake wiz ze line," said Madame Maxime, shrugging.

"It is possible, of course," said Dumbledore politely

"Dumbledore, you know perfectly well you did not make a mistake!" said Professor McGonagall angrily. "Really, what nonsense! Harry could not have crossed the line himself, and as Professor Dumbledore believes that he did not persuade an older student to do it for him, I'm sure that should be good enough for everybody else! Beside's Alicia and Harry never go anywhere without the other, except for a few classes, of which there were none today. If Alicia is acting as a witness than that should be enough." She shot a very angry look at Professor Snape.

"If my word isn't enough then ask Hagrid, we were with him all day today." Alicia added strongly.

"Mr. Crouch… Mr. Bagman," said Karkaroff, his voice unctuous once more, "you are our — er — objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"

Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his handkerchief and looked at Mr. Crouch, who was standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face half hidden in shadow. He looked slightly eerie, the half darkness making him look much older, giving him an almost skull-like appearance. When he spoke, however, it was in his usual curt voice.

"We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament."

"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front," said Bagman, beaming and turning back to Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, as though the matter was now closed.

"I insist upon resubmitting the names of the rest of my students," said Karkaroff. He had dropped his unctuous tone and his smile now. His face wore a very ugly look indeed. "You will set up the Goblet of Fire once more, and we will continue adding names until each school has two champions. It's only fair, Dumbledore."

"But Karkaroff, it doesn't work like that," said Bagman. "The Goblet of Fire's just gone out — it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament —"

"— in which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing!" exploded Karkaroff. "After all our meetings and negotiations and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"

"Empty threat, Karkaroff," growled a voice from near the door. A shiver ran up Alicia's spine and she balled her hands into fists, biting her lip from the feel. "You can't leave your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?"

Moody had just entered the room. He limped toward the fire, and with every right step he took, there was a loud _clunk._

"Convenient?" said Karkaroff. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody."

Harry could tell he was trying to sound disdainful, as though what Moody was saying was barely worth his notice, but his hands gave him away; they had balled themselves into fists.

"Don't you?" said Moody quietly. "It's very simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Potter's name in that goblet knowing he'd have to compete if it came out."

Alicia's eyes narrowed… who would want to try and get Harry into such trouble… he could end up dying in this competition.

Alicia's eyes widened and she remembered her dream…

 _No…_ she needed to tell Sirius… she needed to tell Dumbledore! What if this had something to do with Voldemort?

"Evidently, someone 'oo wished to give 'Ogwarts two bites at ze apple!" said Madame Maxime.

"I quite agree, Madame Maxime," said Karkaroff, bowing to her. "I shall be lodging complaints with the Ministry of Magic _and_ the International Confederation of Wizards —"

"If anyone's got reason to complain, it's Potter," growled Moody, "but… funny thing… I don't hear _him_ saying a word…"

"Why should 'e complain?" burst out Fleur Delacour, stamping her foot. "'E 'as ze chance to compete, 'asn't 'e? We 'ave all been 'oping to be chosen for weeks and weeks! Ze honour for our schools! A thousand Galleons in prize money — zis is a chance many would die for!"

"Maybe someone's hoping Potter _is_ going to die for it," said Moody, with the merest trace of a growl. Alicia's face paled and she turned to Harry who seemed to notice something else was behind her worry, he looked at her more cautiously than was needed. Alicia however could see through the caution and curiosity to the fear, confusion and disappointment behind that, this wasn't supposed to be happening.

An extremely tense silence followed these words. Ludo Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed, bounced nervously up and down on his feet and said, "Moody, old man… what a thing to say!"

"It wouldn't be the first time someone's tried to kill Harry." Alicia said, only a select few heard her though, Harry and Dumbledore being among them, both looking at her surprised. The only people so far who had tried to kill Harry, either were followers of Voldemort, or Voldemort himself.

"We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he hasn't discovered six plots to murder him before lunchtime," said Karkaroff loudly. "Apparently he is now teaching his students to fear assassination too. An odd quality in a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore, but no doubt you had your reasons."

"Imagining things, am I?" growled Moody. "Seeing things, eh? It was a skilled witch or wizard who put the boy's name in that goblet…"

"Ah, what evidence is zere of zat?" said Madame Maxime, throwing up her huge hands.

"Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!" said Moody. "It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament… I'm guessing they submitted Potter's name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category…"

"You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody," said Karkaroff coldly. Even if she knew Karkoroff didn't like Moody, Alicia agreed with this statement… even Dumbledore had said nothing of the sort on how this could have happened. "and a very ingenious theory it is — though of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realising it was a carriage clock. So you'll understand if we don't take you entirely seriously…"

"There are those who'll turn innocent occasions to their advantage," Moody retorted in a menacing voice. "It's my job to think the way Dark wizards do, Karkaroff — as you ought to remember…"

"Alastor!" said Dumbledore warningly. Alicia wondered what Mad-eye was referring too, but having read somewhere that Karkaroff had actually been sentenced for Azkaban at one stage, she guessed it had something to do with Mad-eye catching him and sending him there.

Moody fell silent, though still surveying Karkaroff with satisfaction — Karkaroff's face was burning.

"How this situation arose, we do not know," said Dumbledore, speaking to everyone gathered in the room. "It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it. Both Cedric and Harry have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do…" Alicia's eyes widened, how could they send Harry in there like a piece of bait?

"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr —"

"My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it."

Dumbledore waited, but Madame Maxime did not speak, she merely glared. She wasn't the only one either. Snape looked furious; Karkaroff livid; Bagman, however, looked rather excited.

"Well, shall we crack on, then?" he said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room. "Got to give our champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty, want to do the honours?"

Mr. Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie.

"Yes," he said, "Instructions. Yes… the first task…"

He moved forward into the firelight. Alicia looked at the man with confusion, he looked different to when she'd seen him at the cup, up close, Mr Crouch looked ill. There were dark shadows beneath his eyes and a thin, papery look about his wrinkled skin

"The first task is designed to test your daring," he told Harry, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, "so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard… very important…"

 _Well Harry's definitely got that bit down packed._ Alicia believed remembering their last three years at Hogwarts.

"The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges.

"The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."

Alicia rolled her eyes, of all the things that are placed in the information.

Mr. Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore.

"I think that's all, is it, Albus?"

"I think so," said Dumbledore, who was looking at Mr. Crouch with mild concern. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay at Hogwarts tonight, Barty?"

"No, Dumbledore, I must get back to the Ministry," said Mr. Crouch. "It is a very busy, very difficult time at the moment… I've left young Weatherby in charge… Very enthusiastic… a little overenthusiastic, if truth be told…" Alicia smirked

"You'll come and have a drink before you go, at least?" said Dumbledore.

"Come on, Barty, I'm staying!" said Bagman brightly. "It's all happening at Hogwarts now, you know, much more exciting here than at the office!"

"I think not, Ludo," said Crouch with a touch of his old impatience.

"Professor Karkaroff — Madame Maxime — a nightcap?" said Dumbledore.

But Madame Maxime had already put her arm around Fleur's shoulders and was leading her swiftly out of the room. Harry could hear them both talking very fast in French as they went off into the Great Hall. Karkaroff beckoned to Krum, and they, too, exited, though in silence.

"Harry, Cedric, Alicia, I suggest you go up to bed," said Dumbledore, smiling at both of them. "I am sure Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise."

"But—" Alicia began, Dumbledore however gave her a smile and held up his hand. She sighed before nodding and the three left the room.

The Great Hall was deserted now; the candles had burned low, giving the jagged smiles of the pumpkins an eerie, flickering quality.

"So," said Cedric, with a slight smile. "We're playing against each other again!"

"I s'pose," said Harry. Alicia didn't blame him for not being chatty.

"So… tell me…" said Cedric as they reached the entrance hall, which was now lit only by torches in the absence of the Goblet of Fire. "How _did_ you get your name in?"

"I didn't," said Harry, staring up at him. "I didn't put it in. I was telling the truth."

"Ah… okay," said Cedric. Harry could tell Cedric didn't believe him. "Well… see you, then."

Instead of going up the marble staircase, Cedric headed for a door to its right. Harry and Alicia stood listening to him going down the stone steps beyond it, then, slowly, they started to climb the marble ones.

"I don't think anyone's going to believe you." Alicia said softly

"You do,"

"Of course I do." She said as though it was an insult "I know you better than that."

"But…" Harry sensed

"Well… I thought… about our dream." she admitted "Someone incredibly strong and powerful put your name in the cup to force you to compete in a tournament that could get you seriously killed! And they went through a hell of an effort to do so!" she explained "Moody might be right, someone might want you to get killed by this, or worse. And Voldemort in our dream was planning on getting to you while you were at Hogwarts!" she explained

"You think Voldemort had something to do with this?" Harry asked

"I think we need to tell Dumbledore about our dream." Alicia confessed "And I definitely think that I'm writing to Sirius as soon as we get to the common room, no matter what celebration is happening."

Harry didn't answer, and Alicia wasn't surprised. She didn't know what she'd say to such a conclusion, so she didn't think Harry would either. Both knew she was good at drawing and finding all the facts, even if these were mere assumptions Alicia was scared to be right for once. They may have fought off different forms of Voldemort so far, but how many times could they get lucky?

The two were standing before the Fat Lady's portrait before they knew it. However she wasn't alone in her portrait, a Wizened Witch who had been within the room behind the Great Hall was with her. Alicia looked at her annoyed a the smug face she wore. She must have dashed through every picture lining seven staircases to reach here before them. Both she and the Fat Lady were looking down at him with the keenest interest.

"Well, well, well," said the Fat Lady, "Violet's just told me everything. Who's just been chosen as school champion, then?"

"Balderdash," said Harry dully.

"It most certainly isn't!" said the pale witch indignantly.

"No, no, Vi, it's the password," said the Fat Lady soothingly, and she swung forward on her hinges to let Alicia and Harry into the common room.

The blast of noise that met both their ears when the portrait opened almost knocked Harry backward as Alicia looked shocked, where they seriously celebrating this!?

Next thing he knew, Harry was being wrenched inside the common room by about a dozen pairs of hands, and was facing the whole of Gryffindor House, all of whom were screaming, applauding, and whistling.

Alicia climbed in behind her brother as Fred was first to speak.

"You should've told us you'd entered!" he looked half annoyed, half deeply impressed.

"How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!" roared George.

"I didn't," Harry said. "I don't know how —"

But Angelina had now swooped down upon him; "Oh if it couldn't be me, at least it's a Gryffindor —"

"You'll be able to pay back Diggory for that last Quidditch match, Harry!" shrieked Katie Bell, another of the Gryffindor Chasers.

"We've got food, Harry, come and have some —"

"I'm not hungry, I had enough at the feast —"

No body listed to Harry, nobody cared what he thought, what he did or didn't want, no one cared that he might have been shocked and sick to his stomach by this turn of events. Lee Jordan had unearthed a Gryffindor banner from somewhere, and he insisted on draping it around Harry like a cloak. Harry couldn't get away; whenever he tried to sidle over to the staircase up to the dormitories, the crowd around him closed ranks, forcing another butterbeer on him, stuffing crisps and peanuts into his hands… Everyone wanted to know how he had done it, how he had tricked Dumbledore's Age Line and managed to get his name into the goblet…

"I didn't," he said, over and over again, "I don't know how it happened."

But for all the notice anyone took, he might just as well not have answered at all.

Alicia however had noticed that both Hermione and Ron were missing… she assumed Hermione, shocked to her degree, was probably looking in a book for some answer as to how this could have happened, and Ron… well she thought he'd be here to save Harry from all this nonsense and take him to the dormitories to ask what they'd spoken about in the other room and what he was going to do, offer to talk to his dad about the whole nonsense and when he'd tell Sirus.

But neither were here…?

"I'm tired!" Harry bellowed finally, after nearly half an hour. "No, seriously, George — I'm going to bed —"

Alicia moved through the common room and Harry followed quickly, causing the Creevey brothers to quickly jump out of their way. Harry managed to shake everyone off and climb up to the dormitory as fast as he could.

"I'll see you in the morning." Alicia assured strongly and Harry nodded before they split.

"What happened!?" Hermione had jumped off her bed the second Alicia had opened the dormitory door.

"They're letting him compete." she answered "Dumbledore called me in as like a witness to Harry's whereabouts, I mean the two of us hardly go anywhere without the other. If Harry had been to the goblet I'd be likely to know."

"And if you lied?"

"I told them to ask Hagrid and the Fat Lady if anyone left last night or for proof we'd been with Hagrid all day." Alicia admitted "If I lied would I have told them to do so?" the black haired girl sighed and moved to sit on her bed, pulling he knees to her chest.

"Apparently the Goblet makes a binding magical contract that even the ministry can't break, they don't have a choice but to let Harry enter. Bagman was excited about it, Maxime and Karkaroff were naturally pissed because Hogwarts had two champions, Snape was more than angry but everyone else was worried to a tee."

"I don't blame them, but what happened? How was Harry's name called out?"

"Moody thinks someone bewitched the goblet and put Harry's name in under a fourth school to make him enter."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Alicia shook her head, she didn't need to tell Hermione about her and Harry's dream or about the possible conspiracy to kill Harry during this tournament. But the fact that Voldemort's 'faithful servant' infiltrated Hogwarts without Dumbledore or anyone knowing, worried Alicia more than anything else.

"There's something else too." Hermione sighed sitting down

"What else could make tonight worse?" Alicia asked with a groan

"Ron thinks Harry hoodwinked the Goblet somehow." Hermione confessed

"What?!" Alicia snapped

"He doesn't believe Harry didn't do it. He was questioning me the whole way up here after Dumbledore dismissed us."

"How could he think that!? He's supposed to be Harry's best friend!?"

"I don't know, jealous maybe?" Hermione shrugged "It didn't matter what I said, nothing changed his mind, and as soon as we got to the common room he ran up the dormitories."

Alicia groaned and laid down on her bed, she could just imagine that Harry was having a field day with Ron at the moment.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

Alicia had a hard time sleeping that night. She was down in the common room just as the horizon was beginning to lighten up behind the lake and hills, bringing the Durmstrang's flag into view. She sat in front of the fire, which the house elves had allowed to die out over night and just stared at the ashes as she waited for Harry to get up. She didn't know how today was going to go, but she was sure he'd need all the support he could get, especially if Ron was being stupid and actually accusing him of entering the tournament.

She later remembered she had a promise to fill. Alicia got up from her seat and ran up the stairs to her dormitory, being as silent as possible as she grabbed a piece of parchment and her quil and ink before moving back down stairs to one of the tables.

She had to tell Sirius.

 _Dear Sirius,_

 _You only just replied and already hell's broken loose. Someone put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire! Someone entered Harry in the tournament! His name came out and now he has no choice but to compete!_

 _I don't know what to do! Harry's torn up about it and people really believe he entered himself, including Ron! Well… I think Ron might just be fed up with Harry having all the attention but…_

 _Mad-Eye thinks someone hoodwinked the Goblet and entered Harry, which reminded me of my dream and Voldemort being after him, what if this has something to do with Voldemort's plan?_

 _Needless to say I'm freaking out a lot! I hardly slept last night, what do I do?_

 _You wanted to be kept informed. So much for a quite year of watching, now Harry's involved… again! Is this going to be some kind of pattern?_

 _I'll send this letter with Harry's, he's not awake yet but no doubt he'll want to send you one also. If you have any suggestions on how the hell we get through this, I'd love to hear it._

 _Talk to you soon, be careful. Wish us luck._

 _Alicia_

Alicia folded up the parchment and returned her quil and ink to the dormitory, folding up the letter and putting it in her pocket.

She then sat down with a book in her hand as other Gryffindor's awoke and moved to breakfast at their own paces. She nodded and said good morning to a few, declining a few breakfast invitations as well. At one stage, Ron came down the stairs, she turned to him but all she received, was nothing. Ron completely ignored her as he moved from the stairs to the porthole and left the common room. Why was he ignoring her?

 _Probably thinks you're in alliance with Harry._ a little voice in her head said. Alicia just rolled her eyes in annoyance and returned to her book.

Hermione came down a little while later.

"You're up early." she said walking over to Alicia

"Couldn't sleep." Alicia sighed, closing her book.

"Well, should we go have some breakfast then?" Hermione offered

"I was waiting for Harry,"

"You really think he's going to want to be around people at the moment?" Hermione asked. Alicia thought.

"No probably not…"

"Well, let's go and have some breakfast and bring him some back so he doesn't have to deal with that." Hermione decided

"Alright." Alicia nodded. She took one more trip up to the dormitories to return her book before the two girls went down for breakfast.

Harry getting picked as the fourth champion was all people talked about. The Ravenclaws were suspicious and annoyed as to how he got his name in. The Slytherins were all betting how long he'd survive, a few were jealous and arguing as to how he was being let to play. The Gryffindors were more than excited and the Hufflepuffs were more than angry, their thunder having been stolen.

Cedric was sitting at the table and he gave Alicia a nod who nodded back before she and Hermione sat down with Ron.

"Morning." Hermione said

"Morning." Ron answered. Alicia said nothing but began to eat some eggs. Ron didn't seem to care as he said nothing either.

"Seen Harry?" Hermione asked. Ron shrugged

"Was he still asleep?" she tried again

"His curtains were closed I think." Ron was putting black pudding and sausages onto his plate.

"Are you really planning on ignoring your best friend?" Alicia questioned but Ron didn't answer.

"This is nonsense Ron. Stop being so childish."

"Childish?" Ron snapped "How is it his name ended up coming out of the cup? Of all the people?"

"Probably because Voldemort wants him dead." Alicia snapped and Ron flinched at the name as usual. Alicia quickly finished her pumpkin juice and breakfast before grabbing some pieces of toast.

"I'm taking him breakfast, Hermione?" Alicia asked. The girl nodded and got up also. Ron scowled at the fact that both girls were on Harry's side.

"If you're going to be stupid you can get used to being alone." Alicia snapped before she stalked off angrily.

"For heaven's sake, when Harry needs him most to believe him he decides to be childish and stupid." Alicia grumbled as Hermione walked beside her

"What do you expect Alicia? He's always in Harry's shadow."

"You can't exactly blame Harry for that, it's not like he asked for this." Alicia said strongly.

The two reached the porthole just as it flew open to reveal Harry.

"Morning." Alicia smiled as Hermione said "Hello,"

"We brought you this…" Hermione pointed to the toast in her hands

"Hermione figured you didn't want to deal with people." Alicia confessed

"Want to go for a walk?" Hermione offered

"Good idea." Harry nodded, obviously grateful.

They went back downstairs, crossed the entrance hall quickly without looking in at the Great Hall, and were soon striding across the lawn toward the lake, where the Durmstrang ship was moored, reflected blackly in the water. It was a chilly morning, and they kept moving, munching their toast, as Harry told Hermione exactly what had happened after he had left the Gryffindor table the night before. Naturally, Hermione accepted his story without question.

"Well, of course I knew you hadn't entered yourself," she said when he'd finished telling her about the scene in the chamber off the Hall. "The look on your face when Dumbledore read out your name! But the question is, who did put it in? Because Moody's right, Harry… I don't think any student could have done it… they'd never be able to fool the Goblet, or get over Dumbledore's —"

"Have you seen Ron?" Harry interrupted. Hermione hesitated.

"Erm… yes… he was at breakfast," she said.

"Humph." Alicia huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Does he still think I entered myself?"

"Well… no, I don't think so… not _really,_ " said Hermione awkwardly.

"What's that supposed to mean, 'not _really_ '?"

"Oh Harry, isn't it obvious?" Hermione said despairingly. "He's jealous!"

" _Jealous_?" Harry said incredulously. "Jealous of what? He wants to make a prat of himself in front of the whole school, does he?"

"He's just being stupidly childish." Alicia said and Harry noticed her annoyed attitude as Hermione continued.

"Look," said Hermione patiently, "it's always you who gets all the attention, you know it is. I know it's not your fault," she added quickly, seeing Harry open his mouth furiously. "I know you don't ask for it… but — well — you know, Ron's got all those brothers to compete against at home, and you're his best friend, and you're really famous — he's always shunted to one side whenever people see you, and he puts up with it, and he never mentions it, but I suppose this is just one time too many…"

"Great," said Harry bitterly. "Really great. Tell him from me I'll swap any time he wants. Tell him from me he's welcome to it… People gawping at my forehead everywhere I go…"

"I'm not telling him anything," Hermione said shortly. "Tell him yourself. It's the only way to sort this out."

"I'm not running around after him trying to make him grow up!" Harry said, so loudly that several owls in a nearby tree took flight in alarm. "Maybe he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself once I've got my neck broken or —"

"That's not funny," said Hermione quietly. "That's not funny at all." She looked extremely anxious.

"Mostly because it'll probably happen!" Alicia said angrily and Hermione bit her lip.

"Harry, I've been thinking — you know what we've got to do, don't you? Straight away, the moment we get back to the castle?"

"Yeah, give Ron a good kick up the —"

" _Write to Sirius._ You've got to tell him what's happened. He asked you to keep him posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts… It's almost as if he expected something like this to happen. I brought some parchment and a quill out with me —"

"Come off it," said Harry, looking around to check that they couldn't be overheard, but the grounds were quite deserted. "He came back to the country just because my scar twinged. He'll probably come bursting right into the castle if I tell him someone's entered me in the Triwizard Tournament —"

" _He'd want you to tell him,_ " said Hermione sternly. "He's going to find out anyway —"

"How?"

"Harry, this isn't going to be kept quiet," said Hermione, very seriously. "This tournament's famous, and you're famous. I'll be really surprised if there isn't anything in the _Daily Prophet_ about you competing… You're already in half the books about You-Know-Who, you know… and Sirius would rather hear it from you, I know he would."

"Yeah I bet Rita Skeeter will be here within the week to get an interview and then twist all you're bloody words." Alicia rolled her eyes

"Alicia you have to write to him as well." Hermione said "Both of you are in this together as You-Know-Who knows you're alive, just because he doesn't want you as much doesn't mean something mightn't happen to you as well." she looked increasingly worried at this.

"Calm down Hermione." Alicia said

"You have to write —"

"Okay, okay, I'll write to him," said Harry, throwing his last piece of toast into the lake. They both stood and watched it floating there for a moment, before a large tentacle rose out of the water and scooped it beneath the surface.

"Alicia you too." Hermione ordered. Alicia just pulled her letter out of her pocket

"I just need to send it." she admitted, and Hermione looked at it surprised

"What you thought I spent three hours this morning reading?" Alicia questioned "I'm not you." to which Hermione scowled at her.

The three of them returned to the castle and began to climb the stairs.

"Whose owl are we going to use?" Harry suddenly asked "He told us not to use Hedwig or Noel again."

"Ask Ron if you can borrow —"

"I'm not asking Ron for anything," Harry said flatly.

"Now who's being childish." Alicia snapped

"Well, borrow one of the school owls, then, anyone can use them," said Hermione.

They went up to the Owlery Hermione gave Harry a piece of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink, then strolled around the long lines of perches, looking at all the different owls and Alicia went and looked out the window over the grounds while Harry sat down against a wall and wrote his letter.

"Alicia what did you say?" Harry asked

"Oh you know, but of this and that, the truth, freak out a little…" she muttered the last statement as she waved her hand around dismissively. Harry sighed and put his quil to his parchment.

 _Dear Sirius,  
_

 _You told me to keep you posted on what's happening at Hogwarts, so here goes — I know Alicia told you, but the Triwizard Tournament's happening this year and on Saturday night I got picked as a fourth champion. I don't know who put my name in the Goblet of Fire, because I didn't. The other Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory, from Hufflepuff._

 _Hope you're okay, and Buckbeak —_

 _Harry_

"Finished." Harry called. Alicia moved to read it over his shoulder as Hedwig came flying down toward them, holding her leg out. Alicia pulled her letter out and suddenly Noel was on her head.

"Sorry Noel, but Sirius told us to change owls, we need to borrow a school owl if that's alright." Alicia brushed Noel's chest feathers and bird swelled happily, not seeming as offended as Hedwig was when Harry told her the same. The snowy owl cut Harry's shoulder with her talons as she took off and kept her back to them.

Alicia and Harry attached their letters to a lard barn owl which then flew off and away. Harry tried to appeal to Hedwig's better nature but she clicked her beak furiously and soared high up into the rafters and out of reach.

"Hedwig jealousy's not a very pretty trait." Alicia sighed as Noel hooted, nipped Alicia's finger happily and joined the snowy owl above them.

"First Ron, then you," said Harry angrily. " _This isn't my fault._ "

Alicia sighed.

* * *

Things didn't get better from there, the next day everyone was back to lessons and Harry couldn't avoid the rest of the school. Like the Gryffindor's everyone thought Harry had entered himself, but they were very much less impressed. The Hufflepuffs were still angry at Harry stealing their glory, they hardly spoke a word to any of the Gryffindors during their herbology lesson that morning.

What was worse was Hermione and Alicia had been put between Ron and Harry. Alicia didn't have the effort to be bothered with Ron and just answered and acted normally if he said anything, which was very uncommon for once. Hermione tried to force a conversation with them both but all they did was answer her, and not speak to the other. Hermione tired to encourage Alicia to try but she didn't do much a better job, especially as Ron seemed to be blaming her as well for Harry's popularity.

Above the Hufflepuffs acting coldly, Professor Sprout seemed just as annoyed. Being the head of Hufflepuff house Alicia didn't blame her, but she couldn't think the teacher also believed Harry was skilled enough to hoodwink the Goblet of Fire and cross Dumbledore's ageing line. She just hoped everyone got over it and moved on like they had about the fact of Harry being famous, that had only lasted about a term, occasionally being brought up by new comers like the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.

After Herbology it was Care of Magical Creatures, however this meant being with the Slytherins. It made Alicia have an itch to keep her wand in her hand as she knew Malfoy would open his big gob and say something about the whole ordeal, probably something about Harry dying, and the group would be happy about it too.

Predictably, Malfoy arrived at Hagrid's cabin with his familiar sneer firmly in place.

"Ah, look, boys, it's the champion," he said to Crabbe and Goyle the moment he got within earshot of Harry. "Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt he's going to be around much longer… Half the Triwizard champions have died… how long d'you reckon you're going to last, Potter? Ten minutes into the first task's my bet."

"Knowing what we've been through I wouldn't be surprised if Harry won." Alicia grumbled to herself, having Hermione give her a surprised look. In order to remove some frustration however Alicia ignored her and turned to Malfoy.

"At least he'd last longer than you Malfoy, you can't even block a stinging jinx." she smirked

"Can so," Malfoy answered childishly

"Shall we test that?!" Alicia asked her wand in her hand. Malfoy looked more than ready to take action but stopped as Hagrid came around the corner carrying all the crates on top of one another, each containing a Blast-Ended Skrewt. Alicia watched Malfoy and raised an eyebrow as the boy turned away, no matter what he thought of Hagrid, he was still a teacher and Alicia smirked at the cowardliness Malfoy possessed.

Her smirk didn't last however as Hagrid explained what they'd be doing in today's lesson. Hagrid explained that the reason the skrewts had been killing one another was an excess of pent-up energy, and that the solution would be for each student to fix a leash on a skrewt and take it for a short walk.

Alicia's mouth hung open as Malfoy, unsurprisingly, began to complain.

"Take this thing for a walk?" he repeated in disgust, staring into one of the boxes. "And where exactly are we supposed to fix the leash? Around the sting, the blasting end, or the sucker?"

"Roun' the middle," said Hagrid, demonstrating. "Er — yeh might want ter put on yer dragon-hide gloves, jus' as an extra precaution, like. Harry — Alicia, you come here an' help me with this big one…" Alicia knew Hagrid wanted to talk about the tournament and the two walked over quickly.

He waited until everyone else had set off with their skrewts, then turned to Harry and said, very seriously, "So — yer competin', Harry. In the tournament. School champion."

"One of the champions," Harry corrected him.

Hagrid's beetle-black eyes looked very anxious under his wild eyebrows.

"No idea who put yeh in fer it, Harry?" Alicia grinned

"You believe I didn't do it, then?" said Harry, concealing with difficulty the rush of gratitude he felt at Hagrid's words.

" 'Course I do," Hagrid grunted. "Yeh say it wasn' you, an' I believe yeh — an' Dumbledore believes yer, an' all."

"Wish I knew who _did_ do it," said Harry bitterly.

"If we did that'd make everything much too easy." Alicia sighed "Since when is anything easy for us?"

They looked out over the lawn; the class was widely scattered now, and all in great difficulty. The skrewts were now over three feet long, and extremely powerful. No longer shell-less and colourless, they had developed a kind of thick, greyish, shiny armour. They looked like a cross between giant scorpions and elongated crabs — but still without recognisable heads or eyes. They had become immensely strong and very hard to control.

"Look like they're havin' fun, don' they?" Hagrid said happily. Alicia and Harry shared a look before looking back at the skewts and their struggling classmates, every now and then, with an alarming _bang,_ one of the skewts' ends would explode, causing it to shoot forward several yards, and more than one person was being dragged along on their stomach, trying desperately to get back on their feet.

"I think he means the skewts." Alicia muttered to Harry who nodded in agreement

"Ah, I don' know, Harry," Hagrid sighed suddenly, looking back down at him with a worried expression on his face. "School champion… everythin' seems ter happen ter you, doesn' it?"

"Understatement." Alicia sighed

"For once though it ain' you too, ain' it Alicia." Hagrid said nudging her hard enough to make her stumble.

"Don't hold your breath, there's still time for me to somehow get involved." she grumbled, standing straight.

Harry didn't answer and Alicia didn't blame him, Hermione had said the same yesterday and Ron wasn't speaking to him because of it.

* * *

It was if they were back in their second year, when a basilisk was slithering around petrifying the muggle-borns, Harry was blamed for it and everyone glared, ran or were scared of him. This was not much different, people avoided him and shot him glares and scowls in the corridor. Alicia was getting rather frustrated by it and constantly Harry had to tell her it was alright, although she knew it wasn't. The fact that Ron wasn't around to laugh it off and assure Harry probably didn't help, after all, this time his best friend had turned on him too. Unfortunately Alicia knew Harry was too stubborn to try and persuade Ron to cooperate and Alicia knew she'd get frustrated if she tried, not only that, but it wasn't her place to say anything, as Hermione had said, they had to work it out themselves.

A reply was yet to come from Sirius also, and that put Alicia on edge slightly, knowing he was on their side always brought a boat of confidence, and she knew Sirius would believe them, but she worried as to what hypothesis he came up to as to why. The fact that Harry had to compete with Cedric, who's popularity was currently on par with Krum's, was a topic Harry needed a distraction from, and Alicia could only do so much to help. This included helping him with the summoning charm they were practicing in Professor Flitwick's class, Harry was having much difficulty with it and was the only person other than Neville to receive extra homework.

"It's really not that difficult, Harry," Hermione tried to reassure him as they left Flitwick's class — she and Alicia had been making objects zoom across the room to them all lesson, Alicia had also managed a repelling charm in which she got everything back into their original place, something Flitwick would have awarded her house points for had the Inter-school championship been running. "You just weren't concentrating properly —"

"Wonder why that was," said Harry darkly as Cedric Diggory walked past, surrounded by a large group of simpering girls, all of whom looked at Harry as though he were a particularly large Blast- Ended Skrewt. "Still — never mind, eh? Double Potions to look forward to this afternoon…"

Double Potions was always a horrible experience, but these days it was nothing short of torture. Being shut in a dungeon for an hour and a half with Snape and the Slytherins, all of whom seemed determined to punish Harry as much as possible for daring to become school champion, was about the most unpleasant thing anyone could imagine. Alicia had lost count as to the amount of potions she'd sabotaged and jinxes she'd sent, all under Snape's nose incase he decided to actually pay her any attention for once.

Alicia grimaced at the thought, both she and Harry had already struggled through one Friday's worth, with Hermione sitting next to them intoning "ignore them, ignore them, ignore them" under her breath, naturally it hadn't worked very well on Alicia, her temper being a small problem, but neither couldn't see why today should be any better.

When Harry, Alicia and Hermione arrived at Snape's dungeon after lunch, they found the Slytherins waiting outside, each and every one of them wearing a large badge on the front of his or her robes. For one ridiculous moment Harry and Alicia both thought they were S.P.E.W. badges — but upon a closer look, noticed they had the same letters in luminous red letters that burnt brightly in the dimly lit underground passage:

Support CEDRIC DIGGORY —

The REAL Hogwarts Champion

Harry grabbed Alicia under the elbow to stop her sending a curse at every badge. Malfoy didn't help the situation when he opened his mouth.

"Like them, Potter?" said Malfoy loudly as Harry approached. "And this isn't all they do — look!"

He pressed his badge into his chest, and the message upon it vanished, to be replaced by another one, which glowed green:

POTTER STINKS

Alicia ground her teeth as the Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them pressed their badges too, until the message _POTTER STINKS_ was shining brightly all around them. Alicia balled a fist

"Oh _very_ funny," Hermione said sarcastically to Pansy Parkinson and her gang of Slytherin girls, who were laughing harder than anyone, "really _witty._ "

Ron was standing against the wall with Dean and Seamus. He wasn't laughing, but he wasn't sticking up for Harry either.

"Want one, Granger?" said Malfoy, holding out a badge to Hermione. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up."

It seemed as if Harry couldn't take it anymore, for before Alicia had even put her hand in her pocket Harry had his wand out and pointing at Malfoy, causing everyone else to scatter. Immediately she saw this going sour and looked around for Snape who was bound to turn up when things got messy.

"Harry!" Hermione said warningly.

"Go on, then, Potter," Malfoy said quietly, drawing out his own wand. "Moody's not here to look after you now — do it, if you've got the guts —"

For a split second, they looked into each other's eyes, then, at exactly the same time, both acted.

" _Furnunculus_!" Harry yelled.

" _Densaugeo_!" screamed Malfoy.

Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other in midair, and ricocheted off at angles — Harry's hit Goyle in the face, and Malfoy's hit Hermione. Goyle bellowed and put his hands to his nose, where great ugly boils were springing up — Hermione, whimpering in panic, was clutching her mouth.

"Hermione!"

Alicia was by her side as Ron hurried forwards to see what had happened. Ron removed Hermione's hand to reveal her two front teeth were much bigger then usual, making her look a bit like a beaver as she released a terrified cry.

"And what is all this noise about?" said a soft, deadly voice.

Snape had arrived. The Slytherins clamoured to give their explanations; Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy and said, "Explain."

"Potter attacked me, sir —"

"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry shouted.

"— and he hit Goyle — look —"

Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi. "Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape said calmly.

"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said. " _Look_!"

He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth — she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at Hermione from behind Snape's back.

Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, "I see no difference."

Alicia had the thought of hexing the teacher flash cross her brain. Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.

Alicia wasn't the only one who lost her temper, Ron and Harry began to yell at the bias professor also. This might've been lucky though as Alicia was surprised by some of the things that came out of the boys mouths. He got the gist, however.

"Let's see," he said, in his silkiest voice. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention each for Evans, Potter and Weasley. Now get inside, or it'll be a week's worth of detentions." Alicia was momentarily stunned, Snape had never given her a detention as much as he'd just ignore her. Harry looked at her surprised also before dragging her into the room. They walked with Ron to the back of the dungeon, and Harry slammed his bag down onto the table. Ron was shaking with anger too — for a moment, it felt as though everything was back to normal between them, but then Ron turned and sat down with Dean and Seamus instead, leaving Alicia and Harry alone at the table. On the other side of the dungeon, Malfoy turned his back on Snape and pressed his badge, smirking. _POTTER STINKS_ flashed once more across the room.

"Antidotes!" Snape's voice didn't help Alicia's anger as he looked around at them all, his cold black eyes glittering unpleasantly. "You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then, we will be selecting someone on whom to test one…"

Snape's eyes met Harry's, Alicia clenched her fists at the thought of Snape poisoning her brother, thank god she was sure her potion was right, or she'd be getting a week's worth of detentions without trying.

And then a knock on the dungeon door sounded.

It was Colin Creevey; he edged into the room, beaming at Harry, and walked up to Snape's desk at the front of the room.

"Yes?" said Snape curtly.

"Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs."

Snape stared down his hooked nose at Colin, whose smile faded from his eager face.

"Potter has another hour of Potions to complete," said Snape coldly. "He will come upstairs when this class is finished."  
Colin went pink.

"Sir — sir, Mr. Bagman wants him," he said nervously. "All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs…" Alicia turned to Harry

"Take me with you!" she said through her clenched jaw

"Unless you want everyone to know who you really are?" Harry muttered back

"Voldemort already knows. Anything to leave." she hissed looking back at Snape.

"Very well, very well," Snape snapped. "Potter, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."

"Please, sir — he's got to take his things with him," squeaked Colin. "All the champions —"

"Very _well_!" said Snape. "Potter — take your bag and get out of my sight!" Harry gave Alicia an apologetic smile as he grabbed his bag, she slumped on the desk as her twin walked out of the potions room with his number one fan. As soon as he was gone, Ron had a frown and a scowl etched into his face.

Now irritated Snape snapped at everyone to begin brewing their antidotes. In need for a distraction Alicia got straight to work, not speaking to anyone nor making any eye contact.

Natural as Harry wasn't here, Snape picked on Neville, Alicia didn't believe he'd actually poison a student and she was right. Neville was made to go to front of the room and once again poor Trevor the toad was forced to drink a poison. People's antidotes were checked and luckily one got the antidote correctly and cured the toad. Next someone's mouse was poisoned and Alice's poison cured it. With two successful potions, Snape seemed annoyed enough to dismiss them all, well almost all of them.

"Evans! Weasley!" Snape barked and both stopped, not sharing a look "Stay back, we must discuss your detention." Both moved to the desk as Malfoy left grinning from ear to ear. Snape gave them the time and place and dismissed the two.

Ron stalked off while Alicia quickly hurried up to the common room to dump her things before going back down to the Great Hall, now in a bad mood. Snape having once again been obviously biased setting her off.

No one approached her as she hacked into her chicken and a few sent her weary glances. The Weasley twins turned up laughing and tried to get her to join in but the look on her face made both smiles vanish and they shied away from her.

"You look like you're about to murder someone." Alicia looked up to see Harry sit opposite her

"And you look like you want to crawl under a rock. What else is new." she grumbled rhetorically. Harry didn't answer and Alicia took a deep breath "Our detentions are on for tomorrow, Snape's dungeon." she explained and Harry's face turned sour for a second.

"That explains your mood." he muttered

"What explains yours?"

"Rita Skeeter."

"Great!" Alicia faked her enthusiasm "What did she write?"

"Something about tears in my green eyes, an ugly scar. She kept asking about me entering, didn't care that I continued to tell her I didn't and then began to ask about our parents." Harry said and Alicia rose her eyebrows

"Why on earth is that at all relevant?" she demanded "That women's blind, making up stories instead of telling the truth, I mean don't you think the conspiracy that someone might have entered you into the tournament be a much juicier story?" Alicia questioned

"Well they then weighed our wands…"

"Really?" Alicia interrupted grinning at the idea

"Ollivander checked them over." Harry nodded "Oh and Fleur's wand has the hair of a veela in it! From her grandma."

"So she is part veela!" Alicia grinned "Jealous." she then added on in a mutter turning away from Harry for a second, her eyes hit Ron a little ways down the table and remembered how he called it. She scowled and turned back to Harry who had followed her gaze and returned to her food.

"Then what?"

"Rita took pictures." Harry rolled her eyes "And that was it."

"So she didn't interview the other champions?" Alicia wondered and Harry shrugged.

"Probably did it before you arrived, or you were just more interesting." Alicia sighed. "All in all sounds boring."

"Time wasting." Harry grumbled as the dinner vanished and was replaced with dessert. "So where's Hermione?"

"Still in the hospital wing I assume. I haven't had the moment to go see her. But Madam Pomfrey will have it fixed in no time." Alicia assured. "I can already tell tomorrow's detention's going to be tedious." she grumbled. Harry nodded in agreement

"Do you think you could help me with the summoning charms later?" he wondered

"Sure." she shrugged with a grin, always loving her spell work.

When dinner was finished the twins moved up to the common room and diverted to their dormitories to gather up their things.

Alicia walked in to find and owl on her bedside table carrying a letter. She grinned and took the letter to find it to be from Sirius. She opened it eagerly and sat down on the bed.

 _Alicia,_

 _You're right, this is a worry, and thinking about your dream it can't be a coincidence._

 _I can't tell you anything in a letter, I've said this to Harry too but we need to talk, face to face. Be in the Gryffindor common room by the fire at one in the morning on the 22nd of November._

"Fire…" Alicia muttered before realising _Floo powder!_

 _Don't worry, with Dumbledore and Mad-eye around, no one can touch Harry, he's safe. Besides, the two of you are more than capable of looking after one another. However if someone has managed to enter Harry under Dumbledore's nose than watch your backs and be very careful._

 _Reply about November as soon as possible and take care._

 _Sirius_

Alicia got up and ran to the boys dormitories, knocking slightly before bursting in to see Harry with a letter and owl also.

"You got one?" He asked and she nodded holding up the letter

"Shall we reply?" she wondered already knowing the answer.

"But how on earth can we talk to him face to face?" Harry questioned confused as he moved to close the door before Alicia.

"Floo powder?" Alicia offered "He said by the fire." she then gasped

"We need to tell Hermione!"

"And figure out how to get everyone out of the common room." Harry thought

"Well hopefully it'll be empty by that time but there are numerous ways we can empty it." Alicia assured, waving the idea off for the moment as she turned back to her letter "22nd of November…" she turned to Harry "That's two days before the first task…" she muttered and Harry's face fell. "Maybe we can ask him for some sort of help." she shrugged. Harry nodded but Alicia could almost feel the nerves beginning to build from the mention of it.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

Th next fortnight was survived by the Potter Twins only thanks to the prospect of talking to Sirius face to face, the first time either had seen of him since they'd saved him last year. Although the shock of Harry being school champion had worn off now, it was being replaced by Harry's own fear. Alicia was spending any free moment trying to find spells that could help him through the first class, which was drawing nearer and nearer, causing her own worry to rise. Hermione was helping as much as possible too, though the fact they had no idea of what the task consisted off besides showing bravery didn't help.

The twins had already replied to Sirius to say they'd be waiting for him by the Gryffindor Common room Fire, they'd told Hermione the next day and Harry and Hermione had been thinking of ways to clean the common room out if it wasn't in time. They'd gone to thinking of dropping a bag of Dungbombs as a last resort. Alicia was more worried of the task happening two days after.

She was distracted slightly however when the post came one morning.

"You've got to be kidding me!?" Alicia's voice almost silenced the Great Hall and many turned to look her way, causing Harry to shrink slightly beside her, glares being sent his way again. Alicia however didn't notice, her nose was stuck in a copy of today's _Daily Prophet_.

 _Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Alicia Evans, a rather gorgeous girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school. However Alicia has found herself competition in the form of Harry's other close friend Hermione Granger, who's rising grades and stunningly pretty countenance could bring trouble to the happy couple._

Alicia's hands were crinkling the paper in anger and the pictures within it shied as far from the creases as possible.

Harry managed to pry the paper from his sister's hands and turned to Rita Skeeter's article himself. It wasn't an article on the Triwizard Tournament as it was supposed to be, but more a highly coloured life story on Harry. It went from the front page — which consisted of a large picture of Harry — and onto pages two, six and seven. Cedric's name was nowhere in the article and Fleur and Krum's were spelt wrong on the last line of the article.

"I never said this!" Harry hissed, Alicia looked at the bit he was reading.

 _I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now… Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it… I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me…_

"That is one of the most awful things ever to write." Alicia gasped "Other than the idea that you and I are dating." she ground her teeth.

Harry pulled a face and turned away.

The rest of the day did not go smoothly, naturally the Slytherins took as much opportunity as possible concerning the article to snark something at the twins.

"Want a hanky, Potter, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?"

"Since when have you been one of the top students in the school, Potter? Or is this a school you and Longbottom have set up together?"

Comments like this continued for the two weeks up to the first task so much so that Harry snapped at the worst person he currently could have.

"Hey — Harry!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Harry shouted as he wheeled around in the corridor, having had just about enough. Alicia turned around wide eyes. "I've just been crying my eyes out over my dead mum, and I'm just off to do a bit more…"

"No — it was just — you dropped your quill."

It was Cho. Harry's face turned red and Alicia smirked.

"Oh — right — sorry," he muttered, taking the quill back.

"Er… good luck on Tuesday," she said. "I really hope you do well."

"See ya Cho," Alicia waved earning a smile from the girl as she turned and left.

Harry of course felt stupid after that.

Both Alicia and Hermione were getting their fair share of unpleasant comments as well, but only Hermione hadn't started shouting at people and managed to keep herself rather collected about the situation.

" _Stunningly pretty_? _Her_?" Pansy Parkinson had shrieked the first time she had come face-to-face with Hermione after Rita's article had appeared. "What was she judging against — a chipmunk?"

"Ignore it," Hermione said in a dignified voice, holding her head in the air and stalking past the sniggering Slytherin girls as though she couldn't hear them. "Just ignore it, Harry."

"Jealous, _Porkinson_?" Alicia smirked to which Pansy's face had turned crimson and her anger had risen to lip biting proportions. Many of the boys, both Gryffindor and Slytherin laughed. Naturally the name had stuck and spread throughout the school within the day much to Alicia's amusement. Though it didn't lift Harry's spirits as she'd hoped it would, the boy had been relying on the fact that his, Alicia and Ron's detention would settle something between the two.

It didn't.

The article had come out the day of their detention and Alicia assumed it had set Ron off again. Alicia had hoped it'd bring some amusement to him though, the fact that Alicia and Harry were suspected of dating seemed to be something Ron would laugh at under normal circumstances. However for the two hours the three we're pickling rats' brains for Snape, neither boy spoke, making the detention seem to last forever.

The silence and running back and forth between the two boys had seemed to make Hermione finally crack over the situation for she was furious with them both. She was trying to force them to talk to one another now, but to no avail as Harry refused to talk to Ron only if Ron admitted that Harry hadn't put his name in the goblet and apologised for calling him a liar. When Hermione had tried to get Alicia to help her, Alicia had held her hands up and stepped back, saying she completely agreed with Harry as it was Ron's fault the two weren't talking and that if he could say sorry to her while he was at it as she hadn't been given a word from Ron either, that'd be great.

"I didn't start this," Harry said stubbornly. "It's his problem."

"You miss him!" Hermione said impatiently. "And I _know_ he misses you —"

" _Miss him_?" said Harry. "I don't _miss him…_ " To which Alicia had given Hermione a look, she new that was a down right lie. Harry had taken to complaining a little to Alicia about spending so much time in the library and not understanding half his humour. Things were more serious with Hermione, something Alicia had grown used to having immersed in homework half the time also. Harry however needed the two girls for his summoning charms, of which he was still having trouble with, it was like he's blocked the ability to use them. Hermione had therefore decided learning the theory behind them would help, causing Harry to join the girl in pouring over books.

Alicia was surprised Hermione hadn't left the library, as surprising as that sounded, as she was constantly complaining about a the mobs of giggling girls that continued to enter the room. This was because Viktor Krum was spending so much time in the library himself, of which Alicia found surprising. Krum may have been an excellent quidditch player, but his brains were not very on point, something Alicia'd learnt over the last month. They weren't sure if the boy was studying or looking up things to help through the first task, something Alicia doubted as Karkaroff seemed more the type to tell him what to do instead.

The giggling girls he brought however were sending a tick through Alicia as though she was a bomb. Hermione agreed with her annoyance.

"He's not even good-looking!" she muttered angrily, glaring at Krum's sharp profile. "They only like him because he's famous! They wouldn't look twice at him if he couldn't do that Wonky-Faint thing —"

"Wronski Feint," said Harry and Alicia, through gritted teeth. Quite apart from liking to get Quidditch terms correct, it caused Harry another pang to imagine Ron's expression if he could have heard Hermione talking about Wonky-Faints.

"Seriously Hermione if you're going to spend time with Quidditch fans go and learn the terminology first." Alicia said with a roll of her eyes.

* * *

Naturally the fact that both Harry and Alicia wished they had more time to prepare Harry for the first task, meant that November the 24th sped towards them as though someone was turning the hands of a clock to make the days pass like minutes. Thankfully though this meant the meeting with Sirius was close approaching too.

The Saturday before the first task presented another distraction, the third years and above were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade. This was the first visit the twins had had that they were actually allowed to attend for last year they'd both had to sneak out, not having gotten permission from their guardians. Needless to say both children had snuck out to the village thanks to a gift given to them by the Weasley twins.

Hermione insisted that Harry went to the visit and he did not need much persuasion.

"What about Ron, though?" he said. "Don't you want to go with him?"

"Oh… well…" Hermione went slightly pink and Alicia raised an eyebrow. "I thought we might meet up with him in the Three Broomsticks…"

"No," said Harry flatly. Alicia rolled her eyes but said nothing.

"Oh Harry, this is so stupid —"

"I'll come, but I'm not meeting Ron, and I'm wearing my Invisibility Cloak."

"Now really?" Alicia asked "Can you only wear it for the meeting with Ron instead of the entire day?" Alicia asked but Harry remained stubborn.

"Oh all right then…" Hermione snapped, "but I hate talking to you in that cloak, I never know if I'm looking at you or not."

Harry met Alicia and Hermione in the common room under the cloak and the three of them made their way down to Hogsmeade. Naturally though Alicia received many looks, mostly of confusion. It seemed that people were looking around her for Harry as she was for once alone without him.

"People keep looking at _me_ now," said Hermione grumpily as they came out of Honeydukes Sweetshop later, eating large cream-filled chocolates.

"That's just cause Harry's not here to be glowered at instead." Alicia shrugged concentrating on her cream filled chocolate in order to ignore the stares.

"Come _on,_ please just take off your cloak for a bit, no one's going to bother you here."

"Oh yeah?" said Harry. "Look behind you."

Rita Skeeter and her photographer friend had just emerged from the Three Broomsticks pub.

Alicia's expression turned sour, this was the first time she'd seen the women at all and she already hated her. Her hair was set in elaborate and curiously rigid curls that contrasted oddly with her heavy-jawed face. She wore jewelled spectacles. The thick fingers clutching her crocodile-skin handbag ended in two-inch nails, painted crimson.

Alicia felt Harry grab the back of her jacket and pull her out of the way as, talking in low voices, they passed right by them without sparing a glance. Harry backed into the wall of Honeydukes, dragging Alicia, to stop Rita Skeeter from hitting him with her crocodile-skin handbag.

"You didn't need to drag me with you." Alicia muttered annoyed when they were gone.

"She's staying in the village. I bet she's coming to watch the first task."

"Great, she can make up more crap about it." Alicia said angrily

"She's gone," said Hermione, looking right through Harry toward the end of the street. "Why don't we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it's a bit cold, isn't it? You don't have to talk to Ron!" she added irritably, correctly interpreting his silence.

"Yeah and you can listen to what ever the two talk about." Alicia rolled her eyes

"He wont say much with you there." Hermione reminded her

"True." Alicia nodded before she followed Hermione into the pub.

"I'll get the drinks." Hermione said before leaving for the counter. Alicia leaned her hand backwards and Harry took it through the cloak, allowing Alicia to feel the silvery substance over her fingers as she lead the invisible boy through the heavily crowded pub to a back table. Hogwarts students filled the room mainly but as Hogsmeade was the only full wizard village in Britain there were a few others you didn't see on a daily basis here too, like hags, who weren't as good at keeping the secret of their existence as wizards were.

Alicia shot Ron a glare when he looked at her as she passed him, Fred, George and Lee Jordan sitting at a table before sitting at a table in the corner. Hermione joined them a minute later and slipped Harry's butterbeer under the cloak.

Hermione dived into her pockets and pulled out a note book in which had Harry and Ron's names on it. It was her SPEW notebook. It was ages ago when Ron and Harry had made up those fake predictions for their divination class.

"You know, maybe I should try and get some of the villagers involved in S.P.E.W.," Hermione said thoughtfully, looking around the pub.

"Yeah, right," said Harry. He took a swig of butterbeer under his cloak. "Hermione, when are you going to give up on this spew stuff?"

"When house-elves have decent wages and working conditions!" she hissed back and Alicia rolled her eyes. "You know, I'm starting to think it's time for more direct action. I wonder how you get into the school kitchens?"

"No idea, ask Fred and George," said Harry.

Hermione lapsed into thoughtful silence, while Harry drank his butterbeer, watching the people in the pub. Alicia turned from the girl also, not wanting to get frustrated enough to snap at her. She glanced around at the familiar faces around her, all of them looking cheerful and relaxed. Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot were swapping Chocolate Frog cards at a nearby table; both of them sporting _Support Cedric Diggory_! badges on their cloaks. Right over by the door she saw Cho and a large group of her Ravenclaw friends. She wasn't wearing a Cedric badge though. Alicia glanced at Harry's seemingly empty chair, the boy obviously didn't know how to talk to her on his own. Alicia grinned as a plan formed in her mind.

"Look, it's Hagrid!" said Hermione, breaking Alicia's thoughts.

The back of Hagrid's enormous shaggy head — he had mercifully abandoned his bunches — emerged over the crowd. He was bending low talking to Professor Moody, his usual enormous tankard in his hand, Moody however had his usual hip flask. Madam Rosmerta, the pretty landlady, didn't seem to think much of this; she was looking askance at Moody as she collected glasses from tables around them. Perhaps she thought it was an insult to her mulled mead, but Harry knew better. Moody had told them all during their last Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson that he preferred to prepare his own food and drink at all times, as it was so easy for Dark wizards to poison an unattended cup. They watched as Hagrid and Moody got up to leave. Then Moody, paused, his magical eye on the corner where Harry was sitting. He tapped Hagrid in the small of the back (being unable to reach his shoulder), muttered something to him, and then the pair of them made their way back across the pub toward Alicia, Harry and Hermione's table.

"All right, Hermione?" said Hagrid loudly.

"Hello," said Hermione, smiling back.

Moody limped around the table and bent down; Alicia thought he was reading the S.P.E.W. notebook, until he muttered, "Nice cloak, Potter."

Alicia looked at him with surprise and Moody grinned.

"Can your eye — I mean, can you — ?"

"Yeah, it can see through Invisibility Cloaks," Moody said quietly. "And it's come in useful at times, I can tell you." Alicia huffed, that was useful, only not to her and Harry when they ended up sneaking around the castle at night, it had become something they'd gotten accidentally accustomed too.

Hagrid was beaming down at Harry too, despite the fact that he couldn't see him, but Moody had obviously told Hagrid he was there. Hagrid now bent down on the pretext of reading the S.P.E.W. notebook as well, and said in a whisper so low that Alicia only just caught it, "Harry, meet me tonight at midnight at me cabin. Wear that cloak."

Straightening up, Hagrid said loudly, "Nice ter see yeh, Hermione," winked, and departed. Moody followed him.

"Why does Hagrid want me to meet him at midnight?" Harry said, very surprised.

"Does he?" said Hermione, looking startled. "I wonder what he's up to? I don't know whether you should go, Harry…" She looked nervously around and hissed, "It might make you late for Sirius."

"It'll be alright. Harry can I come?" Alicia wondered "He wont know if we're under the cloak." she grinned and she could practically see Harry rolling his eyes at her.

Harry knew he couldn't stop her and so he didn't bother telling his twin she couldn't accompany him, she'd find a way to convince him anyway. So at half past eleven that evening Alicia was waiting on a chair in the corner of the common room. She hadn't bothered going to bed like Harry, who'd faked going to bed early. The common room still housed a few other people, the Creevey brothers had managed to get hold of a stack of _Support Cedric Diggory_! badges and were trying to bewitch them to make them say _Support Harry Potter_! instead. So far, however, all they had managed to do was get the badges stuck on _POTTER STINKS._

Alicia looked up as she felt a tap on her leg. She thought she might have imagined it, but reached forwards slightly to come into contact with something solid in front of her, but unseen. She grinned and closed her book, leaning down as if to pick something up before Harry lifted the cloak and pulled her under it.

"Genius." she grinned as Harry rolled his eyes at her. She just grinned though and both turned for the porthole and waited. It opened to reveal Hermione as planned and the two slipped past her with a thanks before setting off through the castle.

The grounds were very dark. Harry and Alicia walked down the lawn toward the lights shining in Hagrid's cabin. The inside of the enormous Beauxbatons carriage was also lit up; Harry could hear Madame Maxime talking inside it as he knocked on Hagrid's front door.

"You there, Harry?" Hagrid whispered, opening the door and looking around.

"Yeah," said Harry, slipping inside the cabin and pulling the cloak down off his head and Alicia grinned.

"Hey Hagrid." she said and Hagrid looked at her with a smile as he sighed "Sorry I couldn't resist the curiosity." she admitted

"What's up?" Harry asked

"Got summat ter show yeh," said Hagrid.

There was an air of enormous excitement about Hagrid. He was wearing a flower that resembled an oversized artichoke in his buttonhole. It looked as though he had abandoned the use of axle grease, but he had certainly attempted to comb his hair — Harry could see the comb's broken teeth tangled in it.

"What're you showing me?" Harry said warily, wondering if the skrewts had laid eggs, or Hagrid had managed to buy another giant three-headed dog off a stranger in a pub.

"Come with me, keep quiet, an' keep yerselves covered with that cloak," said Hagrid. "We won' take Fang, he won' like it…"

"Like what?" Alicia wondered

"Listen, Hagrid, I can't stay long… I've got to be back up at the castle by one o'clock —" Harry tried but Hagrid wasn't listening; he was opening the cabin door and striding off into the night. Alicia and Harry shared a look before pulling the clock back over their heads and hurried to follow and found, to their great surprise, that Hagrid was leading them to the Beauxbatons carriage.

"Hagrid, what — ?"

"Shhh!" said Hagrid, and he knocked three times on the door bearing the crossed golden wands.

Madame Maxime opened it. She was wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders. She smiled when she saw Hagrid.

"Ah, 'Agrid… it is time?"

"Bong-sewer," said Hagrid, beaming at her, and holding out a hand to help her down the golden steps.

Madame Maxime closed the door behind her, Hagrid offered her his arm, and they set off around the edge of the paddock containing Madame Maxime's giant winged horses, with Harry and Alicia, totally bewildered, running to keep up with them. Had Hagrid wanted to show him Madame Maxime? He could see her any old time he wanted… she wasn't exactly hard to miss…

But it seemed that Madame Maxime was in for the same treat as Harry, because after a while she said playfully, "Wair is it you are taking me, 'Agrid?"

"Yeh'll enjoy this," said Hagrid gruffly, "worth seein', trust me. On'y — don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know."

"Of course not," said Madame Maxime, fluttering her long black eyelashes.

"She seems like the type who'd tell her whole group." Alicia breathed.

And still they walked, Harry getting more and more irritated as he and Alicia jogged along in their wake, trying to keep the cloak covering them all the while. Harry was checking his watch every now and then and Alicia worried they'd miss Sirius. If they didn't get there soon, they were going to turn around, go straight back to the castle, and leave Hagrid to enjoy his moonlit stroll with Madame Maxime… Alicia looked at Harry who had a determined look on his face, clearly thinking the same as she was as he nodded to her understanding. She nodded back.

But then — when they had walked so far around the perimeter of the forest that the castle and the lake were out of sight — Harry heard something and Alicia's eyes widened in surprise, causing the two to share another look. Men were shouting up ahead… then came a deafening, earsplitting roar…

Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and came to a halt. Harry and Alicia hurried up alongside them — for a split second, Harry thought he was seeing bonfires, and men darting around them — and then his mouth fell open.

"I knew it!" Alicia whispered as she beamed

 _Dragons._

Four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing onto their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting — torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks. There was a silvery-blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground; a smooth-scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping with all its might; a red one with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around its face, which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air; and a gigantic black one, more lizard-like than the others, which was nearest to them.

At least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, were attempting to control them, pulling on the chains connected to heavy leather straps around their necks and legs. Mesmerised, Harry looked up, high above him and Alicia, and saw the eyes of the black dragon, with vertical pupils like a cat's, bulging with either fear or rage, he couldn't tell which… It was making a horrible noise, a yowling, screeching scream…

Alicia felt Harry nudge him and looked over to follow his gaze. The dragon closest seemed to be the most vicious of them all. Alicia was memorised by the sight of them, only once had she seen a dragon and that was Norbert in their first year, but he'd only been a baby then, no where near the size of these.

"Keep back there, Hagrid!" yelled a wizard near the fence, straining on the chain he was holding. "They can shoot fire at a range of twenty feet, you know! I've seen this Horntail do forty!"

"Is'n' it beautiful?" said Hagrid softly.

"It's no good!" yelled another wizard. "Stunning Spells, on the count of three!"

The twins saw each of the dragon keepers pull out his wand.

" _Stupefy_!" they shouted in unison, and the Stunning Spells shot into the darkness like fiery rockets, bursting in showers of stars on the dragons' scaly hides —

Alicia and Harry watched the dragon nearest to them teeter dangerously on its back legs; its jaws stretched wide in a silent howl; its nostrils were suddenly devoid of flame, though still smoking — then, very slowly, it fell. Several tons of sinewy, scaly-black dragon hit the ground with a thud that seemed to make the trees behind them quake.

The dragon keepers lowered their wands and walked forward to their fallen charges, each of which was the size of a small hill. They hurried to tighten the chains and fasten them securely to iron pegs, which they forced deep into the ground with their wands.

"Wan' a closer look?" Hagrid asked Madame Maxime excitedly. The pair of them moved right up to the fence, and the twins followed. The wizard who had warned Hagrid not to come any closer turned, and Alicia and Harry realised who it was: Charlie Weasley.

"I knew it!" Alicia said again shaking Harry's arm happily.

"All right, Hagrid?" he panted, coming over to talk. "They should be okay now — we put them out with a Sleeping Draft on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet — but, like you saw, they weren't happy, not happy at all —"

"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" said Hagrid, gazing at the closest dragon, the black one, with something close to reverence. Its eyes were still just open. Harry could see a strip of gleaming yellow beneath its wrinkled black eyelid. Alicia felt as though it was looking straight at them.

"This is a Hungarian Horntail," said Charlie. "There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one — a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue-grey — and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red."

Charlie looked around; Madame Maxime was strolling away around the edge of the enclosure, gazing at the stunned dragons.

"I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid," Charlie said, frowning. "The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming — she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?"

"Jus' thought she'd like ter see 'em," shrugged Hagrid, still gazing, enraptured, at the dragons.

"Really romantic date, Hagrid," said Charlie, shaking his head.

"Four…" said Hagrid, "so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do — fight 'em?"

"Just get past them, I think," said Charlie. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why… but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look."

Charlie pointed toward the Horntail's tail, and Harry and Alicia leaned slightly to see a long, bronze-coloured spikes protruding along it every few inches.

Five of Charlie's fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-grey eggs between them in a blanket. They placed them carefully at the Horntail's side. Hagrid let out a moan of longing.

"I've got them counted, Hagrid," said Charlie sternly. Then he said, "How's Harry?"

"Fine," said Hagrid. He was still gazing at the eggs.

"Just hope he's still fine after he's faced this lot," said Charlie grimly, looking out over the dragons' enclosure. "I didn't dare tell Mum what he's got to do for the first task; she's already having kittens about him…"

"Sound's like Mrs Weasley." Alicia muttered to Harry who nodded, a slight smile on his face at the thought.

Charlie imitated his mother's anxious voice. "' _How could they let him enter that tournament, he's much too young_! _I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit_!' She was in floods after that _Daily Prophet_ article about him. ' _He still cries about his parents_! _Oh bless him, I never knew_!' "

"Now really." Alicia huffed annoyed.

Harry apparently had had enough however for he grabbed Alicia's arm and pulled her away from the scene, back to the castle.

"Are we done already?" she asked before looking at her watch. She gave a slight gasp of surprise "Quick." and she forced Harry to hurry beside her.

"How on earth am I supposed to get past a dragon?!" Harry suddenly hissed

"We'll find a spell, there's one for everything."

"It took about five wands to stun one!" Harry worried "I don't know if knowing is better or not." he mumbled

"It is cause we can actually prepare properly now, and only get you to learn things you need instead of a bunch of crap that half of will turn to be useless." Alicia said and Harry gave her look causing her to roll her eyes. "Never mind. Just know we can actually be prepared now. And I am one hundred percent certain you now wont die."

"Why?" Harry asked

"Because I'm gonna make sure you don't." Alicia looked at her watch again and noticed they had fifteen minutes. "Quick!" Harry glanced at his own and the two sped up. They hadn't run very far however when Alicia grabbed Harry and tried to pull him with her to the side but too late, Harry crashed right into a figure before them.

The two toppled to the floor and Alicia's eyes were very quickly on the floor around them to make sure they were covered.

"Ouch! Who's there?"

Harry copied Alicia in hastily checking that the cloak was covering them and both lay very still, staring up at the dark outline of the wizard Harry had hit.

It was Karkaroff.

"Who's there?" said Karkaroff again, very suspiciously, looking around in the darkness. Harry and Alicia remained still and silent. After a minute or so, Karkaroff seemed to decide that he had hit some sort of animal; he was looking around at waist height, as though expecting to see a dog. Then he crept back under the cover of the trees and started to edge forward toward the place where the dragons were.

"Great now Krum'll know too." Alicia said when Karkaroff was out of ear shot. "Poor Cedric. Only one who doesn't know." she didn't sound all too worried about it though as she got to her feet and pulled Harry up as well.

"Quick." she said again, the two sprinting as fast as they could towards the castle.

The two twins reached the castle and slipped through the front doors before climbing the marble staircase, both had already started panting but didn't dare slow down, they had less then five minutes.

"Balderdash!" he gasped at the Fat Lady, who was snoozing in her frame in front of the portrait hole.

"If you say so," she muttered sleepily, without opening her eyes, and the picture swung forward to admit them. The twins climbed inside. The common room was deserted, and, judging by the fact that it smelled quite normal, Hermione had not needed to set off any Dungbombs to ensure that they and Sirius got privacy.

Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak from the two and threw himself into an armchair in front of the fire. Alicia taking a seat beside him, staring at the flames in anticipation. The room was in semidarkness; the flames were the only source of light. Nearby, on a table, the _Support Cedric Diggory_! badges the Creeveys had been trying to improve were glinting in the firelight. They now read _POTTER REALLY STINKS._

Alicia watched as the flames moved unnaturally and suddenly Sirius' head appeared in the flames. Alicia sat up straight with a grin.

"Hey." she said, alerting Harry who looked back into the flames, and jumped. Alicia moved to sit before the fire as Harry smiled, something he hadn't done for days and Alicia grinned wider at the sight as her brother moved to join her.

"Sirius — how're you doing?" Harry asked.

Alicia thought Sirius was doing extremely well compared to the last time they'd seen him. When they had said good-bye, Sirius's face had been gaunt and sunken, surrounded by a quantity of long, black, matted hair — but the hair was short and clean now, Sirius's face was fuller, and he looked younger, much more like the only photograph Harry had of him, which had been taken at the Potters' wedding.

"Never mind me, how are you?" said Sirius seriously.

Alicia turned to Harry wondering what he'd say.

"I'm —" and he paused. Alicia almost thought he'd lie and say "fine" — but he didn't. Harry suddenly opened up in a way he hadn't done to anyone, not even Alicia, but she knew all she heard. About how no one believed he hadn't entered the tournament of his own free will, how Rita Skeeter had lied about him in the _Daily Prophet,_ how he couldn't walk down a corridor without being sneered at — and about Ron, Ron not believing him, Ron's jealousy…

"… and now Hagrid's just shown me what's coming in the first task, and it's dragons, Sirius, and I'm a goner," he finished desperately.

Sirius looked at him, eyes full of concern, he looked at Alicia who nodded. "It's been hard." she confessed. Sirius' eyes had not yet lost the look that Azkaban had given them — that deadened, haunted look. "Personally I think knowing we're against dragon's is better than nothing because know we can deal with it. Dealing with the unknown is…" she couldn't think of the words and sighed.

Sirius seemed to agree.

"Dragons we can deal with, Harry, but we'll get to that in a minute — I haven't got long here… I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about."

"What?" said Harry and Alicia together, of course there'd be worse than dragons, it was typically what the twins had been put through every year.

"Not something to do with Voldemort is it?" Alicia asked with an annoyed sigh. Harry looked at her surprised but turned back to Sirius expectantly.

"Karkaroff," said Sirius. "Harry, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

"Yes — he — what?" Alicia hit him.

"I told you about this!" she hissed "Don't you listen to me?" Harry looked guilty and Alicia threw her hands in the air annoyed.

"He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year — to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."

"Karkaroff got released?" Harry said slowly — his brain seemed to be struggling to absorb yet another piece of shocking information. "Why did they release him?"

"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," said Sirius bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names… he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place… He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."

"Okay," said Harry slowly.

"Krum's kind of… dimwitted." Alicia admitted "Even if Karkaroff's not."

"But… are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing."

"We know he's a good actor," said Sirius, "because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the _Daily Prophet,_ Harry —"

"— you and the rest of the world," said Harry bitterly earning a nudge from Alicia to shut up.

"— and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said hastily, seeing Harry about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."

Alicia looked confused at this… as she'd never heard of all the false alarms Moody had given she hadn't even thought of it being false, mostly because she refused to believe Rita… and with good reason.

"Would we know if someone succeeded in breaking into Moody's house?" Alicia asked and Sirius looked regretful, not answering, but his expression said it all.

"So… what are you saying?" said Harry slowly. "Karkaroff's trying to kill me? But — why?"

"He's a Death Eater, does he need more reason?" Alicia asked now worried.

Sirius hesitated.

"I've been hearing some very strange things," he said slowly. "The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark… and then — did you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"

"Bertha Jorkins?" said Harry.

"Exactly… she disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumoured to be last… and she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, but… it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?" said Harry.

"That doesn't mean Voldemort might not seek her out…" Alicia thought "Especially if he had a plan and Bertha happened to be the key to putting it in motion." she looked at Sirius who nodded.

"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," said Sirius grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, Harry. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap.

"So… so Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?" said Harry. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"

"But if Karkaroff's headmaster he'd have to come anyway, that's just another bonus to Voldemort." Alicia thought "And if Karkaroff got out after Voldemort perished then it couldn't be on orders that Karkaroff got the job."

"I don't know," said Sirius slowly, "I just don't know… Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident."

"Voldemort has tried twice already but both have failed… he'd have to think a bit more deeply then that… and Karkaroff doesn't really seem the type to complete the deed if Harry did succeed which is what Voldemort would need after so many failed attempts already. I mean he's up to a total of three." Alicia said looking between the two.

"But this time you're not with me." Harry said looking worried "You've helped me through everything." Alicia rolled her eyes

"Just because I can't participate doesn't mean I'm not going help."

"I don't see how you're going to help me survive against those dragons." Harry said "That'll solve Voldemort's problem." he grumbled.

"Right — these dragons," said Sirius, speaking very quickly now. "There's a way, Harry. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell — dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon —"

"Yeah, I know, we just saw," said Harry.

"But you can do it alone," said Sirius. "There is a way, and a simple spell's all you need. Just —"

But Harry held up a hand to silence him, Alicia looked at him annoyed at stopping at such a critical point in the conversation but then she heard why Harry stopped their godfather. She could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind them.

"Someone's coming."

"Go!" he hissed at Sirius. " _Go_! There's someone coming!"

Harry scrambled to his feet, hiding the fire — if someone saw Sirius's face within the walls of Hogwarts, they would raise an almighty uproar — the Ministry would get dragged in — he, Harry, and Alicia would be questioned about Sirius's whereabouts —

Alicia gave Sirius a look and he gave her one simple sentence in a glance: "Look out for Harry, watch your back and be careful." Alicia nodded before she heard the pop and Sirius' head vanished.

Alicia turned and both of them watched the bottom of the spiral staircase. Who had decided to go for a stroll at one o'clock in the morning, and stopped Sirius from telling him how to get past a dragon?

It was Ron. This frustrated Alicia to a tee, for Ron knew about Sirius and he could have stayed. Dressed in his maroon paisley pajamas, Ron stopped dead facing Harry across the room, and looked around.

"Who were you talking to?" he said, apparently not spotting Alicia behind Harry.

"What's that got to do with you?" Harry snarled. "What are you doing down here at this time of night?"

"I just wondered where you —" Ron broke off, shrugging and Alicia stood up, catching Ron's eye. She didn't look pleased with him "Nothing." the red-head decided. "I'm going back to bed."

"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?" Harry shouted.

"Sorry about that," said Ron, his face reddening with anger. "Should've realised you didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you get on with practicing for your next interview in peace."

Harry seized one of the _POTTER REALLY STINKS_ badges off the table and chucked it, as hard as he could, across the room. Alicia watched surprised as it hit Ron on the forehead and bounced off.

"There you go," Harry said. "Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if you're lucky… That's what you want, isn't it?"

He strode across the room toward the stairs; Alicia almost thought Ron might retaliate, but Ron just stood there in his too-small pyjamas.

Ron watched Harry go and then rubbed his forehead. Alicia crossed her arms across her chest and Ron turned to her. He looked sorry for himself.

"Well, we feeling guilty?" Alicia asked

"I'm sorry." Alicia rolled her eyes and moved around the couched. "Alicia," Ron stopped her

"Seriously Ron." Alicia sighed "Of all the things, Harry's been going through hell, remember in our second year with the basilisk and Harry was blamed? It's worse than that. Mostly because you don't believe him. You're supposed to be his best friend!" Alicia hissed "And now…" she took a deep breath and huffed "What ever. It's not my place to explain to you. This is your mess and you need to fix it." Alicia glanced up the boys staircase "If he lets you." she added "Good night, thanks for interrupting, your nosiness might have just caused Harry's down fall in this first task." she grinned angrily before turning and moving up the staircase to her dormitory, climbing into bed and feeling slightly guilty for saying such a thing to Ron, especially as he had no idea what she was on about.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

Alicia sat at the Gryffindor table just pushing her eggs around her plate, not really paying attention to what she was doing as her mind drifted through a dozen or more spells in which Sirius might have been referring to.

"Morning." Alicia hardly heard her bushy haired friend until Hermione waved her hand in her face.

"Morning." she repeated

"Morning Hermione." Alicia said before turning back to her eggs. Hermione must have been looking at her waiting for her to explain what happened last night before opening her mouth instead.

"Well—" Ginny sat down opposite the two with a 'morning', in which only Hermione responded. Alicia was grateful despite her silence as this stopped Hermione from asking the frustrating questions.

Harry finally turned up, but didn't bother with any food. He did eye Alicia as she stared off at nothing before watching Hermione, waiting for her to finish. As soon as she had, Alicia was out of her seat and Harry pulled Hermione outside and down to the lake.

He explained everything to the girl as Alicia thought, as though all the information was sinking in for the first time. Alicia was hoping she'd missed something important that could answer her frustration but when Harry finished, there was nothing.

"God I hate not knowing things!" Alicia hissed when Harry was done "I've been going through spells all morning and can't think of a simple effective one for a dragon!"

"What about Karkaroff or the fact someone's trying to kill me?" Harry wondered

"Considering they're planning on using the dragons for that I think it's safe to assume they're not going to attack you till you pass."

"If I pass." Harry muttered frowning.

"Let's just try and keep you alive until Tuesday evening, and then we can worry about Karkaroff." Hermione decided desperately, though she was alarmed about Sirius' warnings about Karkaroff, this was the more pressing matter.

They walked three times around the lake, trying all the way to think of a simple spell that would subdue a dragon. Alicia listed every spell she thought even close to relevant but had so many she listed a few twice before giving up. Other than that, as Hermione discarded a few ideas, nothing whatsoever occurred to them, so they retired to the library instead. Here, Harry pulled down every book he could find on dragons, and both of them set to work searching through the large pile.

" ' _Talon-clipping by charms…_ _treating scale-rot…_ ' This is no good, this is for nutters like Hagrid who want to keep them healthy…"

"'Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate…' But Sirius said a simple one would do it…"

"Then we're clearly looking in the wrong places." Alicia pointed out

"Let's try some simple spellbooks, then," said Harry, throwing aside _Men Who Love Dragons Too Much._

Both he and Alicia got up and moved through the shelves before returning with a pile of books each and setting them down.

"This is no good. This is useless too. That won't help. I know this has got nothing…" Alicia went through Harry's pile and made it considerably smaller just by reading the spine.

"You spend too much time in here." Harry decided

"No that's Hermione." Hermione shot Alicia a look "I just have an interest in charms."

The three spilt the remaining books and began to flick through the pages, Hermione whispering non-stop as her fingers ran over the parchment.

"Well, there are Switching Spells… but what's the point of Switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine-gums or something that would make it less dangerous… The trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide… I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope, I doubt even Professor McGonagall… unless you're supposed to put the spell on _yourself_? Maybe to give yourself extra powers? But _they're_ not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class, I only know about them because I've been doing O.W.L. practice papers…"

"We don't do our O. till next year Hermione!" Alicia groaned

"Hermione," Harry said, through gritted teeth, "will you shut up for a bit, please? I'm trying to concentrate."

Alicia easily noticed Harry just stared at the pages, if she was facing a giant dragon with no idea what to do, she wouldn't be able to pay attention to what's in front of her either.

Alicia's eyes scanned the spells but every now and then she got distracted by an interesting one before shaking her head angrily with herself and continuing on reading.

This however was all distracted by Hermione suddenly

"Oh no, he's back _again,_ why can't he read on his stupid ship?" said Hermione irritably as Viktor Krum slouched in, cast a surly look over at the pair of them, and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of books. "Come on, Harry, we'll go back to the common room… his fan club'll be here in a moment, twittering away…"

And sure enough, as they left the library, a gang of girls tiptoed past them, one of them wearing a Bulgaria scarf tied around her waist.

Alicia didn't give up. She took about six text books with her to the common room and stayed up late looking through them all, as well as all the books she already had. She knew there was a charm to help as Sirius said there was, but where it was to be found or what charm was frustrating her. She hated not knowing something, especially when it came to spells.

Alicia buried her head in her arms amongst the books she'd scattered over the table. Papers were lying everywhere, all as useless as the next in Alicia's mind. She couldn't find something that could work on a dragon or anything safe that Harry could easily perform in order to pass it.

"Dragons fly! People can't… how's Harry supposed to pass it?" she muttered, hitting her forehead with her knuckles in hopes it'd bring something out in order to help. She remembered the horntail with it's tail, if Harry got that he'd be speared or smashed into the ground… or both. Plus the fire breath… she'd need a fire proof spell, but would that work against a dragon? It's breath might have magical properties just like it's body, in other words, it's better not to risk it.

If only there was a sure way Harry could get past the dragon… he needed a speed spell, or a teleportation spell… but he couldn't apparate until he was sixteen.

"For. God's. Sake!" Alicia ground her teeth in frustration before she slammed the book in front of her closed and left all the books behind as she moved for the dormitory, yawning as she went. All she was doing was frustrating herself and over working her brain, it was late and she needed sleep. She could figure out a way of saving her brother in the morning hopefully, she couldn't do anything if she exhausted herself out.

* * *

Alicia was up early the next morning, despite her late finish. She packed up the mess she'd left before opening one of the books again. It didn't matter how many times she'd read them she couldn't give up. Harry came down a few hours later looking very glum.

"Morning." he muttered "Found anything?"

"I wish," Alicia grumbled annoyed closing the book. "I've been trying for hours, last night and this morning."

"Thanks." Harry sighed but Alicia just pulled a grimace, she hadn't saved him yet and didn't believe a thanks was earned.

"Breakfast?" she asked as a change of topic. Harry nodded and followed her through the porthole. He took a while to eat his bacon, almost as though he was forcing himself to eat. Alicia wouldn't have been surprised, tomorrow he was to be facing a dragon and he had no idea what he was doing. The thought made Alicia loose her appetite and she pushed her pancakes away.

Hermione turned up a few minutes later and sat down with a book in hand as she ate through her porridge.

It wasn't until the three were getting up to leave for Herbology when a thought occurred to Alicia as she spotted someone leaving the Great Hall.

"Hey Harry, don't you think it's a bit unfair?" she asked

"What?" Harry asked

"Well, three of the four champions know of the first task, isn't that just slightly unjust?" Harry looked at her confused before following her gaze as she watched Cedric leave the hall. "I mean if two champions knew, or only just one, it wouldn't be as bad, but three, that's the majority." she turned to her brother who bit his lip, clearly thinking what she was.

"Hermione, we'll see you in the greenhouses," he said, coming to his decision as he watched Cedric leaving the Hall. "Go on, we'll catch you up." and he took Alicia's hand, beginning to follow the Hufflepuff, trying not to loose him.

"Harry, you'll both be late, the bell's about to ring —"

"I'll catch you up, okay?" Clearly he didn't think to trouble Hermione with their ideals but Alicia waved to the girl as they left the hall.

By the time Alicia and Harry reached the bottom of the marble staircase, Cedric was at the top. He was with a load of sixth-year friends.

"We don't want to talk with them around?" Alicia muttered "Specially as they don't like you. People have thought you've already cheated by entering we can't make it worse." Harry nodded, totally agreeing, he didn't walk to talk to Cedric in front of them anyway, they were among those who had been quoting Rita Skeeter's article at him every time he went near them.

The two followed Cedric at a distance and saw that he was heading toward the Charms corridor.

"We need to get him alone…" Alicia muttered thinking, she pulled her wand from her robe as she thought.

"I've got an idea." Harry admitted. Pausing at a distance from them, he pulled out his wand, and took careful aim.

 _"Diffindo!"_ Alicia smirked and they watched as Cedric's bag split. Parchment, quills, and books spilled out of it onto the floor. Several bottles of ink smashed.

"Don't bother," said Cedric in an exasperated voice as his friends bent down to help him. "Tell Flitwick I'm coming, go on…"

This was exactly what Harry had been hoping for. He slipped his wand back into his robes, waited until Cedric's friends had disappeared into their classroom, sharing a look with Alicia who nodded. He then hurried up the corridor, which was now empty of everyone but himself and Cedric. Alicia stayed a little ways back as Cedric noticed them.

"Hi," said Cedric, picking up a copy of _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_ that was now splattered with ink. "My bag just split… brand-new and all…"

"Cedric," said Harry, "the first task is dragons." Alicia bit her lip, cause that wasn't direct or anything.

"What?" said Cedric, looking up.

"Dragons," said Harry, speaking quickly, in case Professor Flitwick came out to see where Cedric had got to. "They've got four, one for each of us, and we've got to get past them."

Cedric stared at him and Alicia thought she saw slight panic clicker through Cedric's grey eyes.

"Are you sure?" Cedric said in a hushed voice.

"Dead sure," said Harry. "I've seen them."

"But how did you find out? We're not supposed to know…"

"Never mind," said Harry quickly — Hagrid would be in trouble if he told the truth. "But I'm not the only one who knows. Fleur and Krum will know by now — Maxime and Karkaroff both saw the dragons too."

Cedric straightened up, his arms full of inky quills, parchment, and books, his ripped bag dangling off one shoulder. He stared at Harry, and there was a puzzled, almost suspicious look in his eyes.

"Why are you telling me?" he asked. Alicia walked forwards.

"Are you disappointed we did?" she asked and Cedric looked at her

"No…" He didn't seem to know what to say as Harry looked at him with disbelief.

"You didn't see these dragons Cedric." Alicia confessed "Plus it's not fair if you're the only one who doesn't know. You're both Hogwarts champions, whether you're competing against one another or not, you bring the glory to the same school."

"But…" Creditc began

"It's just… fair, isn't it?" Harry said to Cedric. "We all know now… we're on an even footing, aren't we?"

Cedric was still looking at him in a slightly suspicious way when Harry and Alicia heard a familiar clunking noise behind them. Both turned around and saw Mad-Eye Moody emerging from a nearby classroom.

"Oh great…" Alicia grumbled, they were done for.

"Come with me, Potter," he growled. "Diggory, off you go." Alicia was sure he'd over heard them, why else wouldn't he be telling Harry and her to go back to class?

"Er — Professor, I'm supposed to be in Herbology —"

"Never mind that, Potter. In my office, please… Evans, you too." Alicia looked surprised, why was she to come? Right, they were in trouble, of course.

She crossed her arms over her chest with a huff and waved goodbye to Cedric before she and Harry followed him, wondering what was going to happen now.

If Moody asked how they found out Alicia was going to down right lie until she couldn't anymore, meaning Moody would have to put a charm on her or give her a truthful potion. And if Moody went to Dumbledore, they wouldn't change the first task? There wasn't enough time now… And if Hagrid was blamed… maybe they'd get by easily though, with Harry being turned into a ferret? At least then he wouldn't have to face the dragons.

They followed Moody into his office. Moody closed the door behind them and turned to look at Harry, his magical eye fixed upon him as well as the normal one.

"That was a very decent thing you just did, Potter," Moody said quietly.

Harry looked at Moody surprised, Alicia however looked suspicious, she was pretty sure there'd be a question as to how he found out first and then a compliment… maybe.

"Sit down," said Moody, and Harry sat, looking around. Alicia stayed standing, her eyes on Moody. It was almost like she sensed something was wrong.

Both Alicia and Harry had visited this office under two of its previous occupants. In Professor Lockhart's day, the walls had been plastered with beaming, winking pictures of Professor Lockhart himself. When Lupin had lived here, you were more likely to come across a specimen of some fascinating new Dark creature he had procured for them to study in class. Now, however, the office was full of a number of exceptionally odd objects that Harry supposed Moody had used in the days when he had been an Auror. Alicia recognised a few of them from books however quite a few were still unrecognisable.

On his desk stood what looked like a large, cracked, glass spinning top; Alicia knew it to be a Sneakoscope, as Harry owned one himself, though it was much smaller than Moody's. In the corner on a small table stood an object that looked something like an extra-squiggly, golden television aerial. It was humming slightly. What appeared to be a mirror hung opposite Harry on the wall, but it was not reflecting the room. Shadowy figures were moving around inside it, none of them clearly in focus.

The thing that caught Alicia's focus however was the black chest that stood on the floor under the window, it contained seven locks, each with it's own key hole.

"Like my Dark Detectors, do you?" said Moody, who was watching Harry closely. Alicia's eyes went back to the professor.

"What's that?" Harry asked, pointing at the squiggly golden aerial.

"Secrecy Sensor. Vibrates when it detects concealment and lies… no use here, of course, too much interference — students in every direction lying about why they haven't done their homework. Been humming ever since I got here." Alicia raised an eyebrow, as if something used to detect dark spells would be so trivial to pick up on adolescence and their obvious lies… "I had to disable my Sneakoscope because it wouldn't stop whistling. It's extra-sensitive, picks up stuff about a mile around. Of course, it could be picking up more than kid stuff," he added in a growl. Alicia thought he'd have more advanced material then that, for an ex-auror at least, one of the best.

"And what's the mirror for?"

"Oh that's my Foe-Glass. See them out there, skulking around? I'm not really in trouble until I see the whites of their eyes. That's when I open my trunk."

He let out a short, harsh laugh, and pointed to the large trunk under the window.

Moody's next question was what the twins had been expecting from the beginning.

"So… found out about the dragons, have you?"

Harry hesitated.

"It's all right," said Moody, sitting down and stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. "Cheating's a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and always has been."

 _Yet everyone was so surprised that Harry's name appeared… yeah that fits well._ Alicia thought

"I didn't cheat," said Harry sharply. "It was — a sort of accident that I found out."

That wasn't a lie and Alicia looked at the Secrecy Sensor as if to check.

Moody grinned. "I wasn't accusing you, laddie. I've been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won't be. They'll have told their champions everything they can. They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They'd like to prove he's only human."

Moody gave another harsh laugh, and his magical eye swivelled around so fast it made Harry feel queasy to watch it.

"So… got any ideas how you're going to get past your dragon yet?" said Moody.

"No," said Harry.

"We're working on it." Alicia muttered, speaking for the first time and Moody's magical eye fixed on her.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you," said Moody gruffly. "I don't show favouritism, me. I'm just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is — _play to your strengths._ "

"I haven't got any," said Harry, before he could stop himself. Alicia scoffed, Moody seemed to agree with her.

"Excuse me," growled Moody, "you've got strengths if I say you've got them. Think now. What are you best at?"

That was an easy question —

"Quidditch," he said dully, "and a fat lot of help —"

"That's right," said Moody, staring at him very hard, his magical eye barely moving at all. "You're a damn good flier from what I've heard."

"Yeah, but…" Harry stared at him. "I'm not allowed a broom, I've only got my wand —" Alicia looked at Harry

"Harry a wand is probably the best tool you can have for something like this…" Alicia said thinking, he had a wand and from there he could do anything if he learned.

"My second piece of general advice," said Moody loudly, interrupting her thoughts, "is to use a nice, simple spell that will enable you to _get what you need._ "

Harry looked blank but Alicia's eyes widened and then she hit her forehead, of course it was that spell.

"Come on, boy…" whispered Moody. "Put them together… it's not that difficult…"

Harry was best at flying. He needed to pass the dragon in the air. For that, he needed his Firebolt. And for his Firebolt, he needed —

"A summoning charm." Alicia sighed. Harry looked at her, slightly worried as he still hadn't mastered it but also slightly more excited as they now had an answer.

"We need Hermione!" Alicia decided and she turned for the door. "Thanks Professor." she called as she pulled Harry from the room.

They ran for the greenhouses and apologised to Professor Sprout immediately before finding Hermione.

"Hermione," Harry whispered, "Hermione — I need you to help me."

"What d'you think I've been trying to do, Harry?" she whispered back, her eyes round with anxiety over the top of the quivering Flutterby Bush she was pruning.

"Hermione, we found a solution!" Alicia grinned and Hermione looked at her shocked.

"Hermione, I need to learn how to do a Summoning Charm properly by tomorrow afternoon." Harry said simply.

Alicia was charged with finding an empty classroom at lunch time while Hermione worked out the best way for Harry to learn the summoning spell, in other words, she had to find out why he'd blocked the spell for some reason. At least, that's what it seemed he'd done.

They spent all their free time in a free classroom as soon as Alicia found one, which she'd done in an instant and Hermione tried to teach Harry how to do the spell. It seemed he was still having problems as he tried to make things fly across the room to him, books and quills kept losing heart halfway across the room and dropping like stones to the floor.

"Concentrate, Harry, _concentrate…_ "

"What d'you think I'm trying to do?" said Harry angrily. "A great big dragon keeps popping up in my head for some reason… Okay, try again…"

"It seems you have the full intention of bringing the object to you, but then remember why you need it to happen and you loose focus." Alicia thought as she sat cross legged on one of the desks to the side, watching.

"How about, you think right from the beginning that a dragon's on your tail and you need the object in order to survive." Alicia pulled her wand out "If you want I'll construct something life threatening enough to prompt you?"

"Alicia!" Hermione snapped

"He's going to be under the pressure tomorrow and pressure it usually when people have the hardest times."

"I think Harry's unfortunately good enough with that." Hermione grumbled as Harry ignored their bickering and tried to summon more books and quills.

"Those were voluntary, we decided to go and fix the problem, this time Harry's been forced into it. It doesn't give the same motivator." Alicia sighed as she jumped off the desk "I'm trying my hardest not to let my only family member die here." she reminded her Hermione who sighed.

"Could you two stop bickering and help me?" Harry asked annoyed, the frustration was getting to him.

"Harry you mastered a patronus charm, you'll get this." Alicia said confidently and she went over to her brother to try and help, Hermione telling him to concentrate clearly wasn't helping.

Harry wanted to skip divination to keep practicing but Hermione put her foot down, refusing pointblank to skive off Arithmancy. Further more she refused to let Alicia skip either, dragging her from the classroom before she could even remind Hermione that Harry's life was on the line here.

So Alicia and Hermione sat through Arithmancy while Harry sat through divination, being told that those who were born in July were in great danger of a sudden, violent death.

They all hurriedly ate some dinner before heading up to the common room, grabbing the invisibility cloak and moved back to the classroom to continue practicing, avoiding the teachers as they did.

They kept practicing until past midnight. They would have stayed longer, but Peeves turned up and, pretending to think that Harry wanted things thrown at him, started chucking chairs across the room. Harry, Alicia and Hermione left in a hurry before the noise attracted Filch, and went back to the Gryffindor common room, which was now mercifully empty.

Alicia had taken to instructing Harry what to do as well as Hermione and they stop in the Gryffindor common room continuing until finally, at around two o'clock in the morning, Harry stood near the fireplace, surrounded by heaps of objects: books, quills, several upturned chairs, and old set of Gobstones and Neville's toad, Trevor.

Only in the last hour had Harry really got the hang of the Summoning Charm.

"That's better, Harry, that's loads better," Hermione said, looking exhausted but very pleased.

"Well, now we know what to do next time I can't manage a spell," Harry said, throwing a rune dictionary back to Hermione, so he could try again, "threaten me with a dragon."

"Yeah but if you didn't have the tournament to worry about, you probably would've gotten it ages ago." Alicia yawned

"Right…" He raised his wand once more. " _Accio Dictionary_!"

The heavy book soared out of Hermione's hand, flew across the room, and Harry caught it.

"Harry, I really think you've got it!" said Hermione delightedly.

"Just as long as it works tomorrow," Harry said. "The Firebolt's going to be much farther away than the stuff in here, it's going to be in the castle, and I'm going to be out there on the grounds…"

"That doesn't matter," said Hermione firmly "Just as long as you're concentrating really, really hard on it, it'll come."

"Distance isn't a problem." Alicia nodded as she stood to her feet. "And if you're that worried, I'll bring it with me, or at least put it somewhere close." she grinned to which Hermione rolled her eyes, standing up as she did.

"Harry, we'd better get some sleep… you're going to need it."

"Your next challenge —" Alicia yawned as she stretched "Staying awake during the task." Harry chuckled slightly at that before he followed the two girls up the stairs and to his own dormitory. Alicia, now feeling a hell of a lot calmer than this morning, crashed onto her bed and drifted off into a deep sleep almost instantly.

* * *

The school the next morning was thrown into tension and excitement. Classes were ending at mid day for everyone to move down two the enclosed space containing the dragons, although the entire school other than the teachers, champions and a few others — such as Hermione and Alicia — didn't know what to expect for the task.

A lot of whispering was going on around breakfast that morning and Alicia heard a few people wishing Harry luck, and a lot more hissing "We'll have a box of tissues ready, Potter" something of which annoyed her greatly.

History of magic was gone in a flash and Alicia was sitting at the lunch table, bobbing her leg up and down anxiously before Professor McGonagall came hurrying over to them. Lots of people were watching.

"Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now… You have to get ready for your first task."

"Okay," said Harry, standing up, his fork falling onto his plate with a clatter.

"Good luck, Harry," Hermione whispered. "You'll be fine!"

"Take a deep breath." Alicia stood up and pulled Harry into a hug "We've faced Voldemort three times now, and survived. Won against a basilisk and a hundred dementors, not to mention a fully grown werewolf and suspected mass-murderer. A dragon will be easy." she grinned, placed her hands on his shoulder and gave him a serious look "You've faced worse."

"Yeah," said Harry in a voice that was most unlike his own. "See you later."

He left the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall. She didn't seem herself either; in fact, she looked nearly as anxious as Hermione.

Alicia sat back in her seat when her brother was out of sight and put her hands in her hair.

"Oh my god! I think I'd rather face a basilisk again!" she muttered to which Hermione looked stunned.

"What if he get's that Horntail?" she muttered more to herself "Spikes at one end, fire at the other." her voice was in a whisper and she didn't touch her lunch again "I should have put an anti fire spell on him or something just incase!"

"Alicia!" Hermione snapped at her and Alicia turned to her "You're not helping the situation. Harry's got this, he'll be fine." Alicia looked at her stern face before she nodded once.

She sat still and quiet for about a minute before she jumped to her feet.

"I'm going to put Harry's firebolt by the window and open it." and she zipped from Great Hall without letting Hermione say anything more.

She sprinted to the common room and up the boys staircase, happy to find it empty. She pulled Harry's firebolt from it's trunk, she was surprised he'd left it there! It'd probably never come that way…

"Maybe he'd been distracted." she nodded and placed it on his bed, the end facing the window so it could zoom straight off, before she opened the window, giving a clear view of the grounds. It was a lovely day for a task, if only Harry was watching with her instead of participating.

Alicia knew why she was more nervous now than she had been with all the other troubles they'd faced. It was because she couldn't be right next to him, as he'd said, helping him through their adventures and turmoil. This was something Harry had no choice but to do alone, and Alicia hated that. At least if she was helping she was doing something she knew would be preventing them from getting killed.

Alicia took a deep breath and snuck out of the dormitory and down to the common room, then straight down to the Great Hall, where people were beginning to file out and to the grounds. Alicia found Hermione by her bush brown hair and took her hand in hers. Hermione smiled at her anxiously and gave her hand a squeeze as they walked amongst the others.

They followed almost the same route Hagrid had taken her and Harry on before they rounded the edge and saw a giant tent, the entrance facing them, it blocked the dragons from view, keeping the mystery in place.

The crowd moved around the tent and to the enclosure beyond, it was currently empty, and how they had managed that with four dragons, and how they were going to put the dragons back, Alicia was unsure about.

The two girls took their seat in the stands and sat waiting. People were chatting all around them but Alicia could only stare at the entrance to the enclosure. Before any of the champions had entered the crowd went wild, gasps, screams, cry of worry, clapping of excitement and shouts of anticipation blew the leaves of the trees as suddenly the bluish-grey Swedish Short-Snout was brought into the rink. Alicia was gnawing on her lip as she hoped Harry would come out and get it over with, but as a whistle blew and Bagman came running into the stands to commentate, Cedric Diggery walked into the enclosure. Alicia thought he looked very green but everyone irrupted in cheers as they saw him.

Alicia watched in anticipation, not making a sound, only gasping a few times as Cedric gripped his wand and launch forwards to obtain the golden egg that had been placed below the Short-Snout.

Cedric seemed to have a plan as well as Harry, for after a few attempts he transfigured a rock into a dog, it ran around the rink, it's barks drowned out by the sound of the crowd and the roaring of the dragon. The dragon didn't like the dog and it reared it's head and chased it slightly away from the eggs as Cedric moved around the other way to get the egg. It seemed he was going to use the dog as a distraction.

Bagman's commentary was only slightly heard, "Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow" … "He's taking risks, this one!" … " _Clever_ move — pity it didn't work!" Alicia was finding it slightly annoying.

It took Cedric a while before he lunged for the egg, unfortunately the dragon had turned her attention back to Cedric and the last thing they saw was Cedric running away from flames, the golden egg in his hands.

The crowd exploded with cheers.

"Very good indeed!" Bagman was shouting. "And now the marks from the judges!"

Cedric score wasn't bad, but the burn he received took marks off, as well as the few scrapes and cuts from jumping around everywhere.

"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. "Miss Delacour, if you please!"

Alicia didn't know either to be happy or more nervous that Harry wasn't called out next.

"This is mad." Alicia turned in her seat to see Ron beside her, when he'd gotten there she had no clue but she raised an annoyed eyebrow at him. Hermione saw the look and hit her arm slightly.

Alicia opted to not say anything and turned back to Fleur.

She raised her wand on the dragon as she treaded lightly around the enclosure and waved it around. Alicia thought it looked like she was trying to hypnotise the dragon. It must have been the intention for the dragon seemed to become sleepy, it's eyes closing and lowering itself towards the ground. The crowd was cheering as Fleur moved to get the egg before the dragon snored and fire shot out of it's nostrils. Fleur jumped around and looked terrified as her skirt caught fire. Many people booed and every boy seemed to lean closer to get a better look, causing Alicia to shake her head in pity before the girl put the fire out with her wand.

"Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" they could hear Bagman shouting gleefully. "Oh… nearly! Careful now… good lord, I thought she'd had it then!"

Flour managed to grab her egg in a shorter time then Cedric had, her idea of hypnosis being smarter than the distraction apparently.

"And here comes Mr. Krum!" cried Bagman. Alicia's insides constricted as the Chinese Fireball was brought in, Fleur had had the Welsh green, and that only left one dragon for Harry. The Hungarian Horntail.

"Of course." she muttered under her breath as Krum walked into the enclosure.

Krum shot spells at the dragon, none of which worked until Krum managed to hit the dragon in the eye, always a weak spot on an animal. The dragon swayed from side to side.

"Very daring!" Bagman was yelling, and the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. Krum ran for the egg as the dragon swayed, standing on the eggs and causing Krum to jump out of the way, just missing getting squashed as the real eggs were smashed. "That's some nerve he's showing — and — yes, he's got the egg!" Krum held the egg up as he panted and the dragon was taken from the enclosure as applause shattered the wintery air like breaking glass; Krum had finished, and that meant 3 of four had faced their dragons.

Harry was next.

This realisation brought back all Alicia's worry and she gripped Ron's arm, much to his surprise but she didn't notice as she watched the Hungarian Horntail being brought into the enclosure, given her eggs to protect and everyone waited in anticipation.

The whistle blew and Alicia didn't realise she was holding her breath until Ron rubbed her back.

"Breath Alicia." she subconsciously listened, slowly releasing her breath.

Harry appeared at the entrance to the enclosure and Alicia looked between him and the Horntail, they were on either side of the enclosure, the Horntail crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, leaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground.

Alicia watched with everyone else as everyone shouted down at him, Bagman was waiting to begin the commentary.

They watched as he raised his wand and Alicia heard his voice over all the shouts.

" _Accio Firebolt_!" he shouted.

And they waited, everyone else confused as to the seemingly useless spell. Harry was looking at everyone around him and Alicia had her fingers crossed on her free hand that wasn't clutching Ron's clothing as she waited to hear the sound of the firebolt that she knew so well.

And there it was, seeming to sound over the top of everyone shouting in the stands. The firebolt appeared at Harry's side as Bagman's commentary praised the genius idea. Ron was shouting beside her and Hermione was grinning and cheering at Harry's success with the spell. Alicia was still worried about the horntail before him though. Stage one was complete, now, he just had to get the egg.

Harry swung his leg over the broom and kicked off from the ground. Alicia saw him mutter to himself as he hovered high in the air and looked down to the dragon below, the gold egg he needed to collect glittering in the sun below her, between her two front legs.

And then Harry dived.

The Horntail's head followed him and Alicia waited for the fire she knew would be shot, hoping Harry knew this too, hoping he wouldn't get burnt.

Harry pulled out of the dive just in time, missing the fire.

"Great Scott, he can fly!" yelled Bagman as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"

Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following his progress; its head revolving on its long neck — if he kept this up, it would be nicely dizzy. Alicia worried this would cause more fire though.

Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time he was less lucky — he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes —

Alicia bit her lip hard as she saw Harry's braun mark. People were screaming and groaning around her as Hermione jumped up and down in her seat.

Now he zoomed around the back of the Horntail. She was watching him so intently that Alicia almost thought she'd fly… her eyes widened, maybe that was Harry's game…

She watched intently but the Horntail didn't seem to want to take off, she was too protective of her eggs. Though she writhed and twisted, furling and unfurling her wings and keeping those fearsome yellow eyes on Harry, she was afraid to move too far from them. Alicia looked annoyed, if he wanted that egg then Harry had to persuade her to do it.

He began to fly, first this way, than the other, not near enough to make her breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on him. Her head swayed this way and that, watching him out of those vertical pupils, her fangs bared…

He flew higher. The Horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, like a snake before its charmer…

Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. He was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach now… She shot fire into the air, which he dodged… Her jaws opened wide…

Alicia waited expectantly, the dragon was so close to leaving the ground, then all Harry had to do was dive! It would work and it would be faster than any of the others so far.

The Horntail reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane — and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs — he had taken his hands off his Firebolt — he had seized the golden egg —

And with a huge spurt of speed, he was off, he was soaring out over the stands, the heavy egg safely under his uninjured arm. Alicia bursted out, her voice thundering with everyone else as she finally released Ron's arm and jumped up into the air, jumping up and down on her seat as she watched Harry. She was only just able to hear Bagman's commentary

"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"

The dragons keepers rushed forwards and subdued the horntail and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid hurrying to meet Harry, all of them waving him toward them, their smiles evident even from this distance.

Alicia, Ron and Hermione were pushing through the people to try and get to the tent. Alicia was full on bashing people out of her way, not caring what they said back or the complaints she heard.

Charlie had walked up to Harry along with McGonagall and Hagrid. Moody was there too, his magical eye dancing in it's socket. She watched, struggling to get through as Harry was taken to the Medical tent, the place Cedric had disappeared to after his own fight.

Alicia ran for the tent and burst in just as Harry stood up.

"You did it!" She shouted as she threw her arms around his neck. "You won! You beat the Horntail!" Hermione was next to engulf him as Alicia let her brother go.

"Harry, you were brilliant!" Hermione said squeakily. There were fingernail marks on her face where she had been clutching it in fear. "You were amazing! You really were!"

Harry however had noticed Ron, who'd followed Hermione and Alicia into the tent.

"Harry," he said, very seriously, "whoever put your name in that goblet — I — I reckon they're trying to do you in!" Alicia crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Caught on, have you?" said Harry coldly. "Took you long enough."

Hermione stood nervously between them, looking from one to the other. Ron opened his mouth uncertainly. Alicia knew an apology was coming and was hoping Ron realised she deserved one too.

"It's okay," Harry said, before Ron could get the words out. "Forget it."

"No," said Ron, "I shouldn't've —"

" _Forget it,_ " Harry said.

Ron grinned nervously at him, and Harry grinned back.

"Ahem." Alicia coughed and Ron looked at her. He grinned and walked forwards, placing an arm around her shoulders.

"Alicia, I'm sorry." She eyed him and looked at Harry who sent her a grin.

"Fine. I guess I can forgive you." she said slowly, her nose in the air. Ron grinned and pulled her into a hug in which Alicia broke and smiled back.

Hermione on the other hand burst into tears.

"There's nothing to cry about!" Harry told her, bewildered.

"You two are so _stupid_!" she shouted, stamping her foot on the ground, tears splashing down her front. Then, before any of them could stop her, she had given both of boys a hug and dashed away, now positively howling.

"Barking mad," said Ron, shaking his head.

"She's just over you two arguing clearly." Alicia shrugged

"Harry, c'mon, they'll be putting up your scores…"

Picking up the golden egg and his Firebolt, feeling more elated than he would have believed possible an hour ago, Harry ducked out of the tent, Ron and Alicia by his side, talking fast.

"You were the best, you know, no competition. Cedric did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on the ground… turned it into a dog… he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well — the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the Labrador; he only just got away. And that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance — well, that kind of worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire — she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand. And Krum — you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying! He was probably the best after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs — they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to them."

Ron drew breath as he, Alicia and Harry reached the edge of the enclosure.

"I have to say though, you freaked the hell out of me. I wished they'd tell us the order you all went in. Then I wouldn't have needed to worry for the first three." Alicia sighed as they looked towards the judges sitting on golden draped chairs.

"It's marks out of ten from each one," Ron said, and Harry, squinting up the field, saw the first judge — Madame Maxime — raise her wand in the air. What looked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight.

"Not bad!" said Ron as the crowd applauded. "I suppose she took marks off for your shoulder…"

Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.

"Looking good!" Ron yelled, thumping Harry on the back. Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever. Ludo Bagman — _ten._

"Ten?" said Harry in disbelief. "But… I got hurt… What's he playing at?"

"Harry, don't complain!" Ron yelled excitedly.

And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too — four.

" _What_?" Ron bellowed furiously. " _Four_? You lousy, biased scumbag, you gave Krum ten!"

"Favouritism obviously." Alicia grumbled with a roll of her eyes.

Alicia saw Harry grin at Ron and then looked around. She knew he was absolutely thrilled to have Ron back, and the fact that people were cheering him on, people were happy and no longer scowling at him, made the world. He'd past the first task.

"You're tied in first place, Harry! You and Krum!" said Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened — but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah — and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes… Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."

"We're waiting." Alicia said immediately looking at Ron who nodded without hesitation.

When Harry left, Alicia punched Ron's arm.

"Really? It took a fricken dragon?" she asked and Ron looked sheepishly at her

"I"m really sorry Alicia, I guess I just… I wasn't really…" he couldn't figure out how to say it.

"It was stupid." She nodded "But I guess even best friends need to have one big fight at some stage."

"Just like siblings." Ron smirked at her

"Yeah well when Harry and I fall out don't come near me or I'll hex your hair off." she advised and Ron pursed his lips with a nod, not at all doubting her.

Harry came back out not long later.

"The next task, it's on the twenty-fourth of February at 9am."

"Good, I can have a calm period. What is it?"

"Don't know, just the egg's supposed to tell us and help us prepare." Harry said looking down at it.

"Hmm." Alicia hummed as she thought, Harry handing her the egg as the three walked around the forest. Alicia admired the egg as Harry insisted Ron tell him everything the champions did in more detail.

They were rounding the clump of trees behind which Harry had first heard the dragons roar, when a witch leapt out from behind them.

It was Rita Skeeter. She was wearing acid-green robes today; the Quick-Quotes Quill in her hand blended perfectly against them.

"Congratulations, Harry!" she said, beaming at him. Alicia's glare made Ron take a slight step back as Alicia seemed to think she could turn Rita into stone. "I wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel _now,_ about the fairness of the scoring?"

"Yeah, you can have a word," said Harry savagely. " _Good-bye._ " And he set off back to the castle with Ron and Alicia, who waved over her shoulder.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

It was good to have Ron back with them, as though the last few months had never happened and Harry hadn't faced a deadly dragon. Alicia was still annoyed it took that much for Ron to come to his senses.

Alicia, Harry, Hermione and Ron were walking up to the Owlery to find Pigwidgeon, Harry had written Sirius a letter telling him he'd survived the first task. Alicia had put in that he'd also come equal first. On the way, Harry filled Ron in on everything Sirius had told him about Karkaroff. Though shocked at first to hear that Karkaroff had been a Death Eater, by the time they entered the Owlery Ron was saying that they ought to have suspected it all along.

"Fits, doesn't it?" he said. "Remember what Malfoy said on the train, about his dad being friends with Karkaroff? Now we know where they knew each other. They were probably running around in masks together at the World Cup… I'll tell you one thing, though, Harry, if it _was_ Karkaroff who put your name in the goblet, he's going to be feeling really stupid now, isn't he? Didn't work, did it? You only got a scratch!"

"Although I was freaking out, it's not all that surprising given our history at this school." Alicia sighed as she stroked Noel's feathers, who'd come down to say hello. She wasn't sure if this was whoever-put-Harry's-name-in-the-goblet's intention now… especially seeing as Harry found out about the dragons before hand and had a few days to prepare.

Alicia scrunched her face in frustration, it was almost as if there was another purpose to Harry entering the tournament other than just to die.

Ron's voice broke her out of her thoughts

"Come here — I'll do it —" Pigwidgeon was so overexcited at the idea of a delivery he was flying around and around Harry's head, hooting incessantly. Ron snatched Pigwidgeon out of the air and held him still while Harry attached the letter to his leg.

"There's no way any of the other tasks are going to be that dangerous, how could they be?" Ron went on as he carried Pigwidgeon to the window.

"Well this was to do with bravery wasn't it…" Alicia thought back to the time in the room behind the Great Hall. "Courage." she looked at Harry who nodded "And this task is more about figuring out the clues to find out what the next task is. So this task is to do with your intelligence or problem solving…" Alicia couldn't think as to the word she was looking for. "Shouldn't be as dangerous but it wont be easy."

"You know what? I reckon you could win this tournament, Harry, I'm serious." Ron said nodding at Alicia. Alicia nodded in agreement, even if Ron was only saying it to make up for the last few weeks.

Hermione, however, leaned against the Owlery wall, folded her arms, and frowned at Ron.

"Harry's got a long way to go before he finishes this tournament," she said seriously. "If that was the first task, I hate to think what's coming next."

"Right little ray of sunshine, aren't you?" said Ron. "You and Professor Trelawney should get together sometime." Alicia snorted at the idea as Ron threw Pigwidgeon out of the window. Pigwidgeon plummeted twelve feet before managing to pull himself back up again; the letter attached to his leg was much longer and heavier than usual — Harry hadn't been able to resist giving Sirius a blow-by-blow account of exactly how he had swerved, circled, and dodged the Horntail. They watched Pigwidgeon disappear into the darkness, and then Ron said, "Well, we'd better get downstairs for your surprise party, Harry — Fred and George should have nicked enough food from the kitchens by now."

"Ron, it's not a surprise if you tell him." Alicia said with a roll of her eyes, being the first to move off down the staircase.

"He can pretend to be surprised." Ron shrugged.

Sure enough, when they entered the Gryffindor common room it exploded with cheers and yells again. There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface; Lee Jordan had let off some Filibuster's Fireworks, so that the air was thick with stars and sparks; and Dean Thomas, who was very good at drawing, had put up some impressive new banners, most of which depicted Harry zooming around the Horntail's head on his Firebolt, though a couple showed Cedric with his head on fire.

Alicia grabbed a heap of food, having not had much breakfast and pushing away her lunch. She then sat in an armchair and Hermione, Harry and Ron sat around her. It was weird, but yet, normal. Ron was back, Harry had survived his first task and the other wasn't for three months. Everyone was cheering and having fun, people weren't ignoring him anymore.

"Blimey, this is heavy," said Lee Jordan, picking up the golden egg, which Harry had left on a table, and weighing it in his hands. "Open it, Harry, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!"

Alicia stood up and Lee passed the egg to her.

"He's supposed to work out the clue on his own," Hermione said swiftly. "It's in the tournament rules…"

"I was supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own too," Harry muttered, so only Hermione and Alicia could hear him, and she grinned rather guiltily.

"Seriously Hermione, we've already broken the rules by knowing about the dragons." Alicia whispered as Harry stood up beside Alicia and she handed him the egg.

"Yeah, go on, Harry, open it!" several people echoed.

Harry looked at his sister who grinned.

"You're not going to let them down are you?" she asked. Harry grinned back and dug his fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around it and prised it open.

It was hollow and completely empty — but the moment Harry opened it, the most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing, filled the room. The nearest thing to it Alicia or Harry had ever heard was the ghost orchestra at Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party, who had all been playing the musical saw.

Everyone had immediately covered their ears with their hands, Alicia pushing down on her head as she stood next to the thing.

"Shut it!" Fred bellowed, his hands over his ears.

Alicia and Harry both grabbed the egg and slammed it shut, cutting off the noise. Everyone seems to take a breath and removed their hands from their ears.

"What was that?" said Seamus Finnigan, staring at the egg still between Alicia and Harry's hands.

"It's supposed to be the next clue!" Alicia said irritatedly, of course there was a trick to it, but why did they have to make it such a horrible noise? It couldn't be white noise or signing instead?

"Sounded like a banshee…" Seamus said. Alicia smirked, they knew from last year that was what Seamus feared most. "Maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Harry!"

"It was someone being tortured!" said Neville, who had gone very white and spilled sausage rolls all over the floor. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!"

"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," said George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing… maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Harry." Alicia bursted out laughing.

"Want a jam tart, Hermione?" said Fred.

Hermione looked doubtfully at the plate he was offering her. Fred grinned as Alicia rolled her eyes.

"It's all right," he said. "I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you've got to watch —"

Neville, who had just bitten into a custard cream, choked and spat it out. Fred laughed.

"Just my little joke, Neville…"

"You never know with you two." Alicia admitted

Hermione took a jam tart. Then she said, "Did you get all this from the kitchens, Fred?"

"Yep," said Fred, grinning at her. He put on a high-pitched squeak and imitated a house-elf. "'Anything we can get you, sir, anything at all!' They're dead helpful… get me a roast ox if I said I was peckish."

"How do you get in there?" Hermione said in an innocently casual sort of voice. Alicia raised an eyebrow

"Easy," said Fred, "concealed door behind a painting of a bowl of fruit. Just tickle the pear, and it giggles and —" He stopped as Alicia moved to cover his mouth with her hand and turned to Hermione, Fred looked from Alicia's suspicious look and mirrored her as Alicia removed her hand. "Why?"

"Nothing," said Hermione quickly.

"Bullshit." Alicia called

"Going to try and lead the house-elves out on strike now, are you?" said George. "Going to give up all the leaflet stuff and try and stir them up into rebellion?"

Several people chortled. Hermione didn't answer.

"Don't you go upsetting them and telling them they've got to take clothes and salaries!" said Fred warningly "You'll put them off their cooking!"

Just then, Neville caused a slight diversion by turning into a large canary.

Alicia was first to start laughing and she ushered Collin Creevy forwards with his camera to take a photo.

"Oh — sorry, Neville!" Fred shouted over all the laughter. "I forgot — it _was_ the custard creams we hexed —"

Within a minute, however, Neville had moulted, and once his feathers had fallen off, he reappeared looking entirely normal. He even joined in laughing.

"Canary Creams!" Fred shouted to the excitable crowd. "George and I invented them — seven Sickles each, a bargain!"

It was nearly one in the morning when Harry finally went up to the dormitory with Ron, Neville, Seamus, and Dean. Alicia herself went up with Hermione about then also, the girl had been rather quiet and Alicia had a feeling she was planning on finding a portrait of a fruit bowl within the next few weeks, now that Harry had passed the first task she could go back to thinking of house elves.

Alicia pulled her curtains shut around her bed and curled up against her pillows with a smile, happy her brother had passed a dragon and she didn't have to worry about him dying again for three months.

Still, something in her mind was nagging at her, but she couldn't place what bits of information belonged to it.

* * *

The start of December brought wind and sleet to Hogwarts. Drafty though the castle always was in winter, most were glad of its fires and thick walls every time they passed the Durmstrang ship on the lake, which was pitching in the high winds, its black sails billowing against the dark skies. The Beauxbatons caravan was likely to be pretty chilly too. Hagrid, Alicia noticed, was keeping Madame Maxime's horses well provided with their preferred drink of single-malt whiskey; the fumes wafting from the trough in the corner of their paddock was enough to make the entire Care of Magical Creatures class light-headed. This was unhelpful, as they were still tending the horrible skrewts and needed their wits about them.

"I'm not sure whether they hibernate or not," Hagrid told the shivering class in the windy pumpkin patch next lesson. "Thought we'd jus' try an' see if they fancied a kip… we'll jus' settle 'em down in these boxes…"

There were now only ten skrewts left; apparently their desire to kill one another had not been exercised out of them. Each of them was now approaching six feet in length. Their thick grey armour; their powerful, scuttling legs; their fire-blasting ends; their stings and their suckers, combined to make the skrewts the most repulsive things Harry and Alicia had ever seen. The class looked dispiritedly at the enormous boxes Hagrid had brought out, all lined with pillows and fluffy blankets.

"We'll jus' lead 'em in here," Hagrid said, "an' put the lids on, and we'll see what happens."

But the skrewts, it transpired, did _not_ hibernate, and did not appreciate being forced into pillow-lined boxes and nailed in. Hagrid was soon yelling, "Don' panic, now, don' panic!" while the skrewts rampaged around the pumpkin patch, now strewn with the smoldering wreckage of the boxes. Most of the class — Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle in the lead — had fled into Hagrid's cabin through the back door and barricaded themselves in; Harry, Ron, Alicia and Hermione, however, were among those who remained outside trying to help Hagrid. Together they managed to restrain and tie up nine of the skrewts, though at the cost of numerous burns and cuts; finally, only one skrewt was left.

"Don' frighten him, now!" Hagrid shouted as Ron, Alicia and Harry used their wands to shoot jets of fiery sparks at the skrewt, which was advancing menacingly on them, its sting arched, quivering, over its back. "Jus' try an' slip the rope 'round his sting, so he won' hurt any o' the others!"

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that!" Ron shouted angrily as he, Alicia and Harry backed into the wall of Hagrid's cabin, still holding the skrewt off with their sparks.

"Well, well, well… this _does_ look like fun."

Rita Skeeter was leaning on Hagrid's garden fence, looking in at the mayhem. She was wearing a thick magenta cloak with a furry purple collar today, and her crocodile-skin handbag was over her arm.

"This cannot end well…" Alicia breathed. " _Incarcerous_!" the Blast-Ended Skrewt was suddenly tied up with ropes, its sting tied down. Hagrid used this opportunity and launched himself forward on top of the skrewt that was cornering Alicia, Harry and Ron and flattened it; a blast of fire shot out of its end, withering the pumpkin plants nearby.

"Who're you?" Hagrid asked Rita Skeeter as he slipped a loop of rope around the skrewt's sting and tightened it.

"Rita Skeeter, _Daily Prophet_ reporter," Rita replied, beaming at him. Her gold teeth glinted.

"Thought Dumbledore said you weren' allowed inside the school anymore," said Hagrid, frowning slightly as he got off the slightly squashed skrewt and started tugging it over to its fellows.

Rita acted as though she hadn't heard what Hagrid had said.

"What are these fascinating creatures called?" she asked, beaming still more widely.

"Doubt that's what she's interested in." Alicia said to Harry

"What do you mean?" Harry asked

"Blast-Ended Skrewts," grunted Hagrid.

"Really?" said Rita, apparently full of lively interest. "I've never heard of them before…where do they come from?"

A dull red flush rose up out of Hagrid's wild black beard. It was a good question, where _had_ Hagrid got the skrewts from? Hermione, who seemed to be thinking along these lines, said quickly, "They're very interesting, aren't they? Aren't they, Harry?"

"What? Oh yeah… ouch… interesting," said Harry as she stepped on his foot.

"Ah, _you're_ here, Harry!" said Rita Skeeter as she looked around. "So you like Care of Magical Creatures, do you? One of your favourite lessons?"

"Yes," said Harry stoutly. Hagrid beamed at him.

"Lovely," said Rita. "Really lovely. Been teaching long?" she added to Hagrid.

"Look at her." Alicia said and Harry did watch as Rita's eyes travelled over their classmates; Dean, who had a nasty cut across one cheek, Lavender, whose robes were badly singed, Seamus, who was nursing several burnt fingers, and then to the cabin windows, where most of the class stood, their noses pressed against the glass waiting to see if the coast was clear.

"This is o'ny me second year," said Hagrid.

"Next Hagrid's going to be the victim." Alicia said angrily as Rita's eyes found her, a cut on her shoulder and a burn further down her arm.

"Lovely… I don't suppose you'd like to give an interview, would you? Share some of your experience of magical creatures? The _Prophet_ does a zoological column every Wednesday, as I'm sure you know. We could feature these — er — Bang-Ended Scoots."

"Blast-Ended Skrewts," Hagrid said eagerly. "Er — yeah, why not?" Alicia looked at Hagrid dumbfounded as Hagrid and Rita Skeeter made arrangements to meet in the Three Broomsticks for a good long interview later that week. Then the bell rang up at the castle, signalling the end of the lesson.

"Well, good-bye, Harry!" Rita Skeeter called merrily to him as he set off with Alicia, Ron and Hermione. "Until Friday night, then, Hagrid!"

"She'll twist everything he says," Harry said under his breath.

"Just as long as he didn't import those skrewts illegally or anything," said Hermione desperately. They looked at one another — it was exactly the sort of thing Hagrid might do.

"Hagrid's been in loads of trouble before, and Dumbledore's never sacked him," said Ron consolingly. "Worst that can happen is Hagrid'll have to get rid of the skrewts." Alicia nudged him "Sorry… did I say worst? I meant best."

Alicia, Harry and Hermione laughed, and, feeling slightly more cheerful, went off to lunch.

The four broke away after lunch, the boys heading for divination and the girls to Arithmancy. They sat through quietly but when the class ended Hermione grabbed Alicia's arm and grabbed her away from the Great Hall.

"Hermione!" Alicia demanded as the smell of food wafted towards them. "I'm hungry, what about dinner?" but Hermione didn't listen, walking through a door towards the Hufflepuff common room — or so Alicia assumed as Cedric had headed through this door on October thirty-first — and down a set of stairs.

Alicia knew exactly what was happening as soon as she saw all the food pictures.

"Hermione!" Alicia wrenched her hand from Hermione's grip who turned to her "Why are we going to the kitchens! I mean seriously, you're supposed to be smart!" she hissed annoyed

"I want to talk to them, ask them a few questions." Hermione said and she turned to keep walking. Alicia knew she'd insulted Hermione by the look she just received but she folded her arms and crossed them over her chest.

Hermione examined all the paintings until she found the one of the silver fruit bowl. She reached forwards and uncertainly tickled the pear. It giggled and turned into a doorknob. Without a glance at Alicia Hermione turned it and walked in.

Alicia followed and looked around surprised. The kitchen was exactly like the Great hall, which Alicia assumed was directly above them. There were four long tables positioned exactly where the house tables were above. All were chocked full of food, now of the puddings and Alicia assumed they would swap with the left overs of the dinner dishes in a minute. The sight made her hungry.

Bustling around the kitchen were hundreds of house elves, they were all wearing the same uniform: a tea towel stamped with the Hogwarts crest, and tied, as Winky's had been, like a toga. They were hurrying to get the food on the tables, filling them up and adding drinks. The pots were being cleaned by others and a roaring fire stood at the other end.

Pots and pans lined the walls and the celling was as high as the Great Hall above.

"Wow." she muttered.

Hermione hadn't bothered looking around she'd moved off through the room and had begun disrupting the house elves.

"Alicia Evans!" Alicia turned and looked surprised as a house-elf covered in coloured clean clothes bound towards her. It was weird seeing the elf without his pillowcase.

"Dobby!" Alicia noticed. Dobby looked just as she remembered him two years ago, enormous, green, tennis-ball-shaped eyes, the pencil-shaped nose, the batlike ears, the long fingers and feet — all except the clothes, which were very different.

When Dobby had worked for the Malfoys, he had always worn the same filthy old pillowcase. Now, however, he was wearing the strangest assortment of garments, he had done an even worse job of dressing himself than the wizards at the World Cup. He was wearing a tea cozy for a hat, on which he had pinned a number of bright badges; a tie patterned with horseshoes over a bare chest, a pair of what looked like children's soccer shorts, and odd socks. One of these, Alicia saw, was the black one Harry had removed from his own foot and tricked Mr. Malfoy into giving Dobby, thereby setting Dobby free. The other was covered in pink and orange stripes.

"Yes Miss!" he looked absolutely delighted with himself.

"I thought you were looking for work?" Alicia said confused "Did Dumbledore give you a job?" she realised

"Yes Miss!" Dobby repeated "How is Harry Potter Miss?" he demanded and Alicia chuckled before she moved to sit down at one of the long tables, the Gryffindor one coincidentally.

"Well have you heard he's in the Tournament that's going on?" she wondered and Dobby's smile faltered

"Dobby did miss. But Dobby heard he won the first task!" he cheered up instantly

"Equal first but yes." Alicia smiled "It was a rather good show too."

"Has Harry Potter been well?" Dobby said as he stood before her

"Very well." she nodded "Other than the tournament thing, but on the bright side he has no exams."

In that instant the food on the tables suddenly changed, the puddings disappeared and the remains of the dinner appeared.

"Oh thank god!" Alicia grinned before turning to Dobby. "I don't suppose I could trouble you for a plate?" the elves around her stopped cleaning the tables "I haven't eaten yet." she shrugged.

Instantly four elves appeared and set the table before her with plates, a cup and cutlery.

"Would Alicia Evan's want anything in particular?" Dobby asked

"I'm in the mood for a good chilli." Alicia said absentmindedly as she looked along the table. An elf appeared at her elbow with a bowl of it.

"Thanks." she smiled and the elf beamed at her

"Sour cream?" A little girl elf squeaked on her left.

"Love some." Alicia grinned and they topped her plate for her.

"Alicia!" Hermione said as she walked over to them, Alicia noticed a few of the elves moved out of her way with timid expressions on their faces as she did. "What are you doing?" Alicia put a spoonful of chilli in her mouth.

"Eating." she said simply. Hermione looked around at the elves as though she expected them to be offended but the elves were beaming as though Christmas had come.

"This is really good." Alicia smiled as she finished off the chilli and then moved to grab some chicken. An elf turned up at her side offering gravy and another roast potatoes.

"You guys are brilliant. No wonder people like to have you in their homes." Alicia smiled, thinking she'd like to have one one day.

"If you get one I swear…" Hermione began

"You have no say in the matter." Alicia snapped at her and Hermione glowered for a second.

"Miss, do you think Dobby could ask you of a favour?" Dobby asked and Alicia looked at him, her fork in her mouth.

"Of course, anything Dobby." Hermione looked down at the little elf in surprise. She had heard of Dobby but had never met him.

"Do you think Harry Potter would come and visit me? Do you think you could ask for Dobby?"

"Of course we could." Alicia nodded

"Alicia! We should get him!" Hermione decided. Alicia slowly put some chicken in her mouth

"But I'm eating?" she muttered, pouting like a child "And the desserts will be back in a minute…" Hermione rose her eyebrows before she rolled her eyes and turned to stalk out of the kitchen. Dobby looked at Alicia and beamed.

"Harry Potter is coming to see Dobby?" he asked her

"If Hermione has anything to say about it, yes." Alicia nodded as she cleaned her plate. Almost immediately it was all cleaned away by a few elves and then within the next second, the desserts were brought forward and Alicia had a bowl, spoon and cup placed before her for it.

"You know Dobby if you wanted to see Harry so bad, you should have come to the Gryffindor common room. We're usually up late, especially around the time of the tasks. So far." Alicia explained as she shovelled some cheesecake in her mouth followed by some ice-cream.

"House elves aren't supposed to be seen Miss." a little elf said as she poured some pumpkin juice in Alicia's bowl.

"I know, but we'd love to have a chat with you all if that's alright. I'd love to hear as to what you do around here other than cook our meals, and if you all have friends, who are they? Do you guys have parties sometimes? What do you do during the summer when we're all gone?" Alicia babbled "I mean you don't want holidays do you?" she asked and the elves immediately all shook their heads. "So what do you do during the summer? I assume you clean the castle from top to bottom but that wont take two months when there's so many of you." Alicia finished her dessert and the plates were all taken away.

The elves seemed to be surprised she wanted to know so much about their work, but as the elves loved what they did they were more than happy to tell her. The others didn't seem to mind as they cleaned off the long tables off the food and plates, washing up the dishes as they went.

Not too long later Hermione, Ron and Harry came into the kitchen, Hermione shoving Harry in.

Dobby was gone from Alicia and running over to Harry before Harry had time to do anything but see the celling and pots.

"Harry Potter, sir! _Harry Potter_!" Dobby literally slammed himself into Harry and Alicia saw him falter back slightly from the force.

"D-Dobby?" Harry gasped.

"It _is_ Dobby, sir, it is!" squealed the elf. "Dobby has been hoping and hoping to see Harry Potter, sir, and Harry Potter has come to see him, sir!" Dobby's eyes were filling with tears.

"Dobby, what're you doing here?" Harry said in amazement.

"What do you think?" Alicia asked walking over to them with a roll of her eyes

"What're you doing here?" Ron asked her

"Hermione dragged me down here after Arithmancy." Alicia rolled her eyes "On the bright side I got very nicely waited on for my dinner." she smirked

"Dobby has come to work at Hogwarts, sir!" Dobby squealed excitedly answering Harry's question. "Professor Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs, sir!"

"Winky?" said Harry. "She's here too?"

"Yes, sir, yes!" said Dobby, and he seized Harry's hand and pulled him off into the kitchen between the four long wooden tables.

At least a hundred little elves were standing around the kitchen, beaming, bowing, and curtsying as Dobby led Harry past them.

Dobby stopped in front of the brick fireplace and pointed.

"Winky, sir!" he said.

Winky was sitting on a stool by the fire. Unlike Dobby, she had obviously not foraged for clothes. She was wearing a neat little skirt and blouse with a matching blue hat, which had holes in it for her large ears. However, while every one of Dobby's strange collection of garments was so clean and well cared for that it looked brand-new, Winky was plainly not taking care of her clothes at all. There were soup stains all down her blouse and a burn in her skirt.

"Hello, Winky," said Harry.

Winky's lip quivered. Then she burst into tears, which spilled out of her great brown eyes and splashed down her front, just as they had done at the Quidditch World Cup.

Alicia guessed the four of them reminded her of when Mr Crouch fired her.

"Oh dear," said Hermione. She, Alicia and Ron had followed Harry and Dobby to the end of the kitchen. "Winky, don't cry, please don't…"

But Winky cried harder than ever. Dobby, on the other hand, beamed up at Harry.

"Would Harry Potter like a cup of tea?" he squeaked loudly, over Winky's sobs.

"Er — yeah, okay," said Harry.

"Alicia Evans?"

"I'd love some." she smiled

Instantly, about six house-elves came trotting up behind them, bearing a large silver tray laden with a teapot, cups for Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione, a milk jug, and a large plate of biscuits.

"Good service!" Ron said, in an impressed voice. Hermione frowned at him, but the elves all looked delighted; they bowed very low and retreated.

"How long have you been here, Dobby?" Harry asked as Dobby handed around the tea.

"Only a week, Harry Potter, sir!" said Dobby happily. "Dobby came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir. You see, sir, it is very difficult for a house-elf who has been dismissed to get a new position, sir, very difficult indeed —"

At this, Winky howled even harder, her squashed-tomato of a nose dribbling all down her front, though she made no effort to stem the flow.

"Dobby has traveled the country for two whole years, sir, trying to find work!" Dobby squeaked. "But Dobby hasn't found work, sir, because Dobby wants paying now!"

The house-elves all around the kitchen, who had been listening and watching with interest, all looked away at these words, as though Dobby had said something rude and embarrassing. Hermione, however, said, "Good for you, Dobby!"

"Thank you, miss!" said Dobby, grinning toothily at her. "But most wizards doesn't want a house-elf who wants paying, miss. 'That's not the point of a house-elf,' they says, and they slammed the door in Dobby's face! Dobby likes work, but he wants to wear clothes and he wants to be paid, Harry Potter… Dobby likes being free!"

The Hogwarts house-elves had now started edging away from Dobby, as though he were carrying something contagious. Alicia looked at Hermione, hoping she'd notice this and drop the SPEW thing.

Winky, however, remained where she was, though there was a definite increase in the volume of her crying.

"And then, Harry Potter, Dobby goes to visit Winky, and finds out Winky has been freed too, sir!" said Dobby delightedly.

At this, Winky flung herself forward off her stool and lay facedown on the flagged stone floor, beating her tiny fists upon it and positively screaming with misery. Hermione hastily dropped down to her knees beside her and tried to comfort her, but nothing she said made the slightest difference. Dobby continued with his story, shouting shrilly over Winky's screeches.

"And then Dobby had the idea, Harry Potter, sir! 'Why doesn't Dobby and Winky find work together?' Dobby says. 'Where is there enough work for two house-elves?' says Winky. And Dobby thinks, and it comes to him, sir! _Hogwarts_! So Dobby and Winky came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir, and Professor Dumbledore took us on!"

Dobby beamed very brightly, and happy tears welled in his eyes again.

"And Professor Dumbledore says he will pay Dobby, sir, if Dobby wants paying! And so Dobby is a free elf, sir, and Dobby gets a Galleon a week and one day off a month!"

"That's not very much!" Hermione shouted indignantly from the floor, over Winky's continued screaming and fist-beating.

"Professor Dumbledore offered Dobby ten Galleons a week, and weekends off," said Dobby, suddenly giving a little shiver, as though the prospect of so much leisure and riches were frightening, "but Dobby beat him down, miss… Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he isn't wanting too much, miss, he likes work better."

"And how much is Professor Dumbledore paying _you,_ Winky?" Hermione asked kindly.

If she had thought this would cheer up Winky, she was wildly mistaken. Winky did stop crying, but when she sat up she was glaring at Hermione through her massive brown eyes, her whole face sopping wet and suddenly furious.

Alicia grinned, this is what Hermione needed.

"Winky is a disgraced elf, but Winky is not yet getting paid!" she squeaked. "Winky is not sunk so low as that! Winky is properly ashamed of being freed!"

"Ashamed?" said Hermione blankly. "But — Winky, come on! It's Mr. Crouch who should be ashamed, not you! You didn't do anything wrong, he was really horrible to you —"

But at these words, Winky clapped her hands over the holes in her hat, flattening her ears so that she couldn't hear a word, and screeched, "You is not insulting my master, miss! You is not insulting Mr. Crouch! Mr. Crouch is a good wizard, miss! Mr. Crouch is right to sack bad Winky!"

"Winky is having trouble adjusting, Harry Potter," squeaked Dobby confidentially. "Winky forgets she is not bound to Mr. Crouch anymore; she is allowed to speak her mind now, but she won't do it."

"Can't house-elves speak their minds about their masters, then?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, sir, no," said Dobby, looking suddenly serious. "'Tis part of the house-elf's enslavement, sir. We keeps their secrets and our silence, sir. We upholds the family's honour, and we never speaks ill of them — though Professor Dumbledore told Dobby he does not insist upon this. Professor Dumbledore said we is free to — to —" Dobby looked suddenly nervous and beckoned Harry closer. Harry and Alicia both bent forward, Alicia's curiosity spiking. Dobby whispered, "He said we is free to call him a — a barmy old codger if we likes, sir!"

Alicia laughed as Dobby gave a frightened sort of giggle.

"But Dobby is not wanting to, Harry Potter," he said, talking normally again, and shaking his head so that his ears flapped. "Dobby likes Professor Dumbledore very much, sir, and is proud to keep his secrets and our silence for him."

"But you can say what you like about the Malfoys now?" Harry asked him, grinning.

A slightly fearful look came into Dobby's immense eyes. Harry and Alicia shared a look, it looked as though Dobby might start hitting himself as he used to years ago when he was still enslaved.

"Dobby — Dobby could," he said doubtfully. He squared his small shoulders. "Dobby could tell Harry Potter that his old masters were — were — _bad Dark wizards_!"

Dobby stood for a moment, quivering all over, horror-struck by his own daring — then he rushed over to the nearest table and began banging his head on it very hard, squealing, " _Bad Dobby_! _Bad Dobby_!"

"Never mind." Alicia muttered

Harry seized Dobby by the back of his tie and pulled him away from the table.

"Thank you, Harry Potter, thank you," said Dobby breathlessly, rubbing his head.

"You just need a bit of practice," Harry said.

"Practice!" squealed Winky furiously. "You is ought to be ashamed of yourself, Dobby, talking that way about your masters!"

"They isn't my masters anymore, Winky!" said Dobby defiantly. "Dobby doesn't care what they think anymore!"

"Oh you is a bad elf, Dobby!" moaned Winky, tears leaking down her face once more. "My poor Mr. Crouch, what is he doing without Winky? He is needing me, he is needing my help! I is looking after the Crouches all my life, and my mother is doing it before me, and my grandmother is doing it before her… oh what is they saying if they knew Winky was freed? Oh the shame, the shame!" She buried her face in her skirt again and bawled.

"Winky," said Hermione firmly, "I'm quite sure Mr. Crouch is getting along perfectly well without you. We've seen him, you know —"

"You is seeing my master?" said Winky breathlessly, raising her tearstained face out of her skirt once more and goggling at Hermione. "You is seeing him here at Hogwarts?"

"Yes," said Hermione, "he and Mr. Bagman are judges in the Triwizard Tournament."

"Mr. Bagman comes too?" squeaked Winky, and to Alicia and Harry's great surprise (and Ron's and Hermione's too, by the looks on their faces), she looked angry again. "Mr. Bagman is a bad wizard! A very bad wizard! My master isn't liking him, oh no, not at all!"

"Bagman — bad?" said Harry.

"Oh yes," Winky said, nodding her head furiously. "My master is telling Winky some things! But Winky is not saying… Winky — Winky keeps her master's secrets…" She dissolved yet again in tears; they could hear her sobbing into her skirt, "Poor master, poor master, no Winky to help him no more!

They couldn't get another sensible word out of Winky. They left her to her crying and finished their tea, while Dobby chatted happily about his life as a free elf and his plans for his wages.

"Dobby is going to buy a sweater next, Harry Potter!" he said happily, pointing at his bare chest.

"Tell you what, Dobby," said Ron, who seemed to have taken a great liking to the elf, "I'll give you the one my mum knits me this Christmas, I always get one from her. You don't mind maroon, do you?"

Dobby was delighted.

"We might have to shrink it a bit to fit you," Ron told him, "but it'll go well with your tea cozy."

As they prepared to take their leave, many of the surrounding elves pressed in upon them, offering snacks to take back upstairs. Hermione refused, with a pained look at the way the elves kept bowing and curtsying, but Harry, Alicia and Ron loaded their pockets with cream cakes and pies.

"Thanks a lot!" Harry said to the elves, who had all clustered around the door to say good night. "See you, Dobby!"

"Harry Potter… can Dobby come and see you sometimes, sir? You and Alicia Evans?" Dobby asked tentatively.

" 'Course you can," said Alicia and Harry, and Dobby beamed.

"You know what?" said Ron, once he, Alicia, Hermione, and Harry had left the kitchens behind and were climbing the steps into the entrance hall again. "All these years I've been really impressed with Fred and George, nicking food from the kitchens — well, it's not exactly difficult, is it? They can't wait to give it away!"

"Yeah we say nicking but they're getting given it." Alicia smirked

"I think this is the best thing that could have happened to those elves, you know," said Hermione, leading the way back up the marble staircase. "Dobby coming to work here, I mean. The other elves will see how happy he is, being free, and slowly it'll dawn on them that they want that too!"

"Really? You see that they shy away from Dobby when he talks like that and you still believe they want freedom?" Alicia groaned

"Let's hope they don't look too closely at Winky," said Harry.

"Oh she'll cheer up," said Hermione, though she sounded a bit doubtful. "Once the shock's worn off, and she's got used to Hogwarts, she'll see how much better off she is without that Crouch man."

"She seems to love him," said Ron thickly (he had just started on a cream cake).

"Maybe that's just an elf thing?" Alicia offered

"Doesn't think much of Bagman, though, does she?" said Harry. "Wonder what Crouch says at home about him?"

"Probably says he's not a very good Head of Department," said Hermione, "and let's face it… he's got a point, hasn't he?"

"I'd still rather work for him than old Crouch," said Ron. "At least Bagman's got a sense of humour."

"That's probably why Crouch doesn't like him." Alicia smirked

"Don't let Percy hear you saying that," Hermione said, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, well, Percy wouldn't want to work for anyone with a sense of humour, would he?" said Ron, now starting on a chocolate eclair. "Percy wouldn't recognise a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby's tea cozy."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

"Potter! Weasley! _Will you pay attention_?"  
Professor McGonagall's irritated voice cracked like a whip through the Transfiguration class on Thursday, and Harry and Ron both jumped and looked up. Alicia and Hermione both shot them a look, even Alicia had been listening.

It was the end of the lesson; they had finished their work; the guinea fowl they had been changing into guinea pigs had been shut away in a large cage on Professor McGonagall's desk (Neville's still had feathers); they had copied down their homework from the blackboard (" _Describe, with examples, the ways in which Transforming Spells must be adapted when performing Cross-Species Switches_ "). The bell was due to ring at any moment, and Harry and Ron, who had been having a sword fight with a couple of Fred and George's fake wands at the back of the class, looked up, Ron holding a tin parrot and Harry, a rubber haddock.

"Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age," said Professor McGonagall, with an angry look at the pair of them as the head of Harry's haddock drooped and fell silently to the floor — Ron's parrot's beak had severed it moments before — "I have something to say to you all.

"The Yule Ball is approaching — a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialise with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above — although you may invite a younger student if you wish —"

Alicia and Hermione shared a grin as Lavender Brown let out a shill giggle, earning a nudge in the ribs from Parvati Patil. They both looked around at Harry. Professor McGonagall ignored them, which Harry thought was distinctly unfair, as she had just told off him and Ron.

"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then —"

Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class.

"The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to — er — let our hair down," she said, in a disapproving voice.

Alicia joined in with Lavender's giggle then, it wasn't hard to see what was funny this time: Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she had never let her hair down in any sense.

"But that does NOT mean," Professor McGonagall went on, "that we will be relaxing the standards of behaviour we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."

The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders.

Professor McGonagall called above the noise, "Potter — a word, if you please."

Harry proceeded gloomily to the teacher's desk. Alicia waited by the door, and she leaned in closely to hear what was going on, assuming this either had something to do with the ball, or Harry's rubber haddock.

"Potter, the champions and their partners —"

"What partners?" said Harry.

"Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter," she said coldly. "Your _dance partners._ "

Alicia chuckled and Ron looked at her confused but she held up a hand that told him to wait.

"Dance partners? I don't dance," he said quickly.

"Oh yes, you do," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "That's what I'm telling you. Traditionally, the champions and their partners open the ball."

"I'm not dancing," he said.

"It is traditional," said Professor McGonagall firmly. "You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter."

"But — I don't —"

"You heard me, Potter," said Professor McGonagall in a very final sort of way.

Harry slushed out of the classroom gloomily and Alicia burst with laughter, getting a punch in the arm from her brother.

* * *

Alicia was rather excited for the ball, she couldn't place her finger on as to why but she was. What she did worry about though was whether someone would ask her or not… and if no one did…what would she do then?

Harry seemed worried about this as well, but not at being asked, at asking. All the girls were moving in gangs, and the boys all seemed to look as though they'd never seen a girl before. The fact that the girls were suddenly all excited for the ball, changing notes as to outfits and giggling when ever boys passed them, as though expecting all of them to ask them to the ball.

"Why do they have to move in packs?" Harry asked Ron as a dozen or so girls walked past them, sniggering and staring at Harry. Alicia had a book in front of her for once as they walked, having not done the reading she was supposed to for Arithmancy and trying to catch up through the corridors. The boys found this surprising but it was because Alicia was trying to find something to wear to the ball. "How're you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?"

"Lasso one?" Ron suggested. "Got any idea who you're going to try?"

Alicia smirked and Ron noticed as Harry looked down, not noticing her expression.

"Ron shall we place a guessing game? You can guess who I'm thinking about." she said and Harry looked at her, his cheeks red.

"She has black hair, really pretty, Harry makes a fool of himself in front of her, she plays quidditch…"

"Alright shut up." Harry snapped and Alicia laughed.

Ron seemed to know what was going on inside Harry's head.

"Listen, you're not going to have any trouble. You're a champion. You've just beaten a Hungarian Horntail. I bet they'll be queuing up to go with you."

"That's nice Ron, but remember how half the school didn't like him?" Alicia wondered. Ron shot her a look that said she wasn't helping but Alicia could see the slight happiness in the redhead's face. The slight bitterness he felt had come through with his last sentence.

Ron seemed to be right though, a curly-haired third-year Hufflepuff girl to whom Harry had never spoken in his life asked him to go to the ball with her the very next day. Harry was so taken aback he said no before he'd even stopped to consider the matter. The girl walked off looking rather hurt, and Harry had to endure Dean's, Seamus's, and Ron's taunts about her all through History of Magic. Alicia had told them all to shut up, before adding a tease in herself to which all three boys bursted out lighting again. The following day, two more girls asked him, a second year and (to his horror) a fifth year who looked as though she might knock him out if he refused.

"She was quite good-looking," said Ron fairly, after he and Alicia'd stopped laughing.

"She was a foot taller than me," said Harry, still unnerved. "Imagine what I'd look like trying to dance with her."

"Ridiculous." and that got the two of them laughing again.

* * *

Alicia and Hermione spent they're usual amount of time in the library however there seemed to be a lot more people with them. Hermione however pointed out that they were mostly girls wanting Krum to ask them.

"Hanging around isn't going to get them asked." Hermione scoffed annoyed as they worked on transfiguration homework.

"Personally it's less likely to work. You'd be better to say hi to him and then just have a conversation ever now and then." Alicia agreed "Following him around only makes you a nuisance."

Hermione suddenly paused in her homework.

"Who are you going to go with?" she suddenly asked. Alicia looked up

"I don't know." she admitted thinking "I don't know who I'd like to ask me…" she muttered. She then looked at Hermione "What about you?"

Hermione shrugged and dipped her head back down. "Doesn't bother me."

"Yeah right, look at you." Alicia smirked and Hermione shot her an annoyed look.

"Come on, you're gorgeous." Alicia assured

"And what's stopping you?"

"I guess everyone expects Harry to ask." she sighed "After all, he and I are inseparable."

"That could be the same for Ron and I then." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Would you like to go with Ron?" Alicia smirked and Hermione looked at her surprised before she only turned back to her notes. Alicia giggled "Oooh."

"Don't be silly Alicia."

"How's it silly?" Alicia wondered "Ron would be hurt by that." But Hermione rolled her eyes

"You know how." This caused Alicia to roll her eyes

"Now you're being silly." she said and turned back to her notes. "I think you two would make an interesting couple." she smirked and Hermione shot her a glare.

One good piece of information was that no bad news of Hagrid appeared in the Daily Profit. In fact, no news at all appeared.

"She didn' seem very int'rested in magical creatures, ter tell yeh the truth," Hagrid said, when Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione asked him how his interview with Rita Skeeter had gone during the last Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the term. To their very great relief, Hagrid had given up on direct contact with the skrewts now, and they were merely sheltering behind his cabin today, sitting at a trestle table and preparing a fresh selection of food with which to tempt the skrewts.

"She jus' wanted me ter talk about you, Harry," Hagrid continued in a low voice. "Well, I told her we'd been friends since I went ter fetch yeh from the Dursleys. 'Never had to tell him off in four years?' she said. 'Never played you up in lessons, has he?' I told her no, an' she didn' seem happy at all. Yeh'd think she wanted me to say yeh were horrible, Harry."

"'Course she did," said Harry and Alicia as Harry threw lumps of dragon liver into a large metal bowl and picking up his knife to cut some more. "She can't keep writing about what a tragic little hero I am, it'll get boring."

"She wants a new angle, Hagrid," said Ron wisely as he shelled salamander eggs.

"Don't worry once the Yule ball comes she'll pick on a relationship between Harry and who he goes with."

"Imagine if she got her hands on you though." Ron grinned and Alicia smirked

"Well no one would be able to say Harry and I are dating." she said as a bonus

"She still has a few weeks until the ball." Harry reminded them "What's she going to do till then?"

"Guess that's what Hagrid was for." Alicia smiled

"You were supposed to say Harry's a mad delinquent!" Ron said to Hagrid with a grin

"But he's not!" said Hagrid, looking genuinely shocked. Alicia bursted out laughing

"With all the rules we've broken?" she questioned "I'm surprised you can say that so confidently."

"She should've interviewed Snape," said Harry grimly. "He'd give her the goods on me any day. ' _Potter has been crossing lines ever since he first arrived at this school…_ ' "

" _'Other teachers like to give him special treatment.'_ " Alicia added in

"Said that, did he?" said Hagrid, while Ron and Hermione laughed. "Well, yeh might've bent a few rules, Harry, bu' yeh're all righ' really, aren' you?"

"Of course. We only break the rules in order to cure our own curiosity, saving the school three times just happens to be an added on extra that's kept us out of trouble." Alicia shrugged, earning a laugh from everyone else.

"Cheers, Hagrid," said Harry, grinning.

"You coming to this ball thing on Christmas Day, Hagrid?" said Ron.

"Though' I might look in on it, yeah," said Hagrid gruffly. "Should be a good do, I reckon. You'll be openin' the dancin', won' yeh, Harry? Who're you takin'?"

"No one, yet," said Harry, feeling himself going red again. Hagrid didn't pursue the subject.

"You know you do have a few advantages if you're having trouble." Alicia said thinking

"Like what?" Harry asked

"I'll bring you some later on." she smirked and Harry shared a confused look with Ron as Hermione rolled her eyes.

The last week of term became increasingly boisterous as it progressed. Rumours about the Yule Ball were flying everywhere, though Harry didn't believe half of them — for instance, that Dumbledore had bought eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam Rosmerta. It seemed to be fact, however, that he had booked the Weird Sisters. Exactly who or what the Weird Sisters were Harry didn't know, never having had access to a wizard's wireless, but he deduced from the wild excitement of those who had grown up listening to the WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network) that they were a very famous musical group.

Some of the teachers, like little Professor Flitwick, gave up trying to teach them much when their minds were so clearly elsewhere; he allowed them to play games in his lesson on Wednesday, and spent most of it talking to Harry about the perfect Summoning Charm Harry had used during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Other teachers were not so generous. Nothing would ever deflect Professor Binns, for example, from plowing on through his notes on goblin rebellions — as Binns hadn't let his own death stand in the way of continuing to teach, they supposed a small thing like Christmas wasn't going to put him off. It was amazing how he could make even bloody and vicious goblin riots sound as boring as Percy's cauldron-bottom report. Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry. Staring nastily around at them all, he informed them that he would be testing them on poison antidotes during the last lesson of the term.

"Evil, he is," Ron said bitterly that night in the Gryffindor common room. "Springing a test on us on the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a whole load of studying."

"Mmm… you're not exactly straining yourself, though, are you?" said Hermione, looking at him over the top of her Potions notes. Ron was busy building a card castle out of his Exploding Snap pack — a much more interesting pastime than with Muggle cards, because of the chance that the whole thing would blow up at any second.

"It's Christmas, Hermione," said Harry lazily; he was rereading _Flying with the Cannons_ for the tenth time in an armchair near the fire.

Alicia had one of her many charms books in her hands beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. Hermione looked severely over at him too.

"I'd have thought you'd be doing something constructive, Harry, even if you don't want to learn your antidotes!"

"Like what?" Harry said as he watched Joey Jenkins of the Cannons belt a Bludger toward a Ballycastle Bats Chaser.

"You're about to be lectured." Alicia muttered, not turning away from her book.

"That egg!" Hermione hissed.

"Come on, Hermione, I've got till February the twenty-fourth," Harry said.

He had put the golden egg upstairs in his trunk and hadn't opened it since the celebration party after the first task. There were still two and a half months to go until he needed to know what all the screechy wailing meant, after all.

"But it might take weeks to work it out!" said Hermione. "You're going to look a real idiot if everyone else knows what the next task is and you don't!"

"I'm not going to let that happen." Alicia sighed lazily.

"Leave him alone, Hermione, he's earned a bit of a break," said Ron, and he placed the last two cards on top of the castle and the whole lot blew up, singeing his eyebrows.

"Nice look, Ron… go well with your dress robes, that will."

It was Fred and George. They sat down at the table with Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione as Ron felt how much damage had been done.

"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked.

"No, he's off delivering a letter," said Ron. "Why?"

"Because George wants to invite him to the ball," said Fred sarcastically.

"Because _we_ want to send a letter, you stupid great prat," said George.

"Who d'you two keep writing to, eh?" said Ron.

"Nose out, Ron, or I'll burn that for you too," said Fred, waving his wand threateningly.

"You trying to bribe someone?" Alicia sighed and Fred shot her a look and changed the subject before Ron could question that.

"So… you lot got dates for the ball yet?"

"Nope," said Ron.

"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," said Fred.

"Who're you going with, then?" said Ron.

"Angelina," said Fred promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.

"What?" said Ron, taken aback. "You've already asked her?"

"Good point," said Fred. He turned his head and called across the common room, "Oi! Angelina!"

Angelina, who had been chatting with Katie Bell near the fire, looked over at him.

"What?" she called back.

"Want to come to the ball with me?"

Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look.

"All right, then," she said, and she turned back to Katie and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face.

"There you go," said Fred to Harry and Ron, "piece of cake." He got to his feet, yawning, and said, "We'd better use a school owl then, George, come on…"

"Just take Noel." Alicia said "She hasn't been on a journey in a while."

"Cheers Alicia." George grinned

"Anything for my second favourite twins." she said casually, but they turned to her

"Who's your first favourite?" they chorused and Alicia grinned up at them

"It's a secret, but I promise you know them." and she turned back to her book. Harry looked at her annoyed and Ron was grinning as he looked at the twins that clearly said he knew something, while Hermione ignored the whole thing.

Fred and George shared a look.

"I'll time how long it takes you to figure out." Alicia assured

"Is that a challenge?"

"Yep." and Alicia left it at that as the twins left.

Ron stopped feeling his eyebrows and looked across the smouldering wreck of his card castle at Harry.

"We _should_ get a move on, you know… ask someone. He's right. We don't want to end up with a pair of trolls."

Hermione let out a sputter of indignation and Alicia's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"A pair of… _what,_ excuse me?"

"Well — you know," said Ron, shrugging. "I'd rather go alone than with — with Eloise Midgen, say."

"Her acne's loads better lately — and she's really nice!"

"Her nose is off-centre," said Ron.

"Oh I see," Hermione said, bristling. "So basically, you're going to take the best-looking girl who'll have you, even if she's completely horrible?"

"Er — yeah, that sounds about right," said Ron.

"I'm going to bed," Hermione snapped, and she swept off toward the girls' staircase without another word.

"You're an idiot." Alicia said and Ron looked confused

"Why cause I'd rather have something who looks good?"

"Personality is important Ron. And because of your stupid blindness I'm not fixing your eyebrows for you." and Alicia got up to follow Hermione.

The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, seemed determined to show the castle at its best this Christmas. When the decorations went up, they were the most stunning anyone had yet seen inside the school. Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armour had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them. It was quite something to hear "O Come, All Ye Faithful" sung by an empty helmet that only knew half the words. Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract Peeves from inside the armour, where he had taken to hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of his own invention, all of which were very rude.

Fred and George had been bugging Alicia about the twin thing but she refused to give, much to their disappointment, but they continued to persevere.

"Will you at least give us a hint?"

"I did. You know them." Alicia replied as Fred and George followed her down one of the corridors.

"That's not a good hint." Fred believed

"It is you just don'w know what to make of it." Alicia disagreed. "Go and actually attempt to work it out because I'm not telling you." Alicia said before she noticed a familiar black haired girl ahead of her, surrounded by her usual group of friends. Alicia left the twins to jog over to Cho with a smile and determination.

"Hey Cho," she said as she approached and the girls all stopped and turned. Cho smiled at the girl and a few others did as well, some however didn't look happy to see Alicia.

"Sorry but I kinda wanted to ask you something." Alicia admitted as she ignored Cho's friends, other then sending a smile back to those who gave her one, and walked beside the girl.

"It's about the yule ball," the girls around them shared curious glances "I have no idea what I should do dress robe wise, and I thought you'd be able to give me some pointers." she smiled. Cho seemed surprised by the assistance, but she smiled and nodded all the same.

They walked and chatted for a while, Cho's friends joining in their conversation. Eventually the topic changed to quidditch and Alicia discovered Cho's favourite team and hopes of getting a new broom.

They stopped as they approached what Alicia assumed was the pathway Ravenclaw common room entrance. Like the Gryffindors the Ravenclaws inhabited one of the Hogwarts towers. It was a spiral staircase and Alicia glanced upwards with interest. She'd only ever been to the Gryffindor common room, unlike Harry and Ron who had also been in the Slytherin one in their second year.

A few voices joined them before Cho waved when her name was called, Alicia saw the three boys approaching them.

"Alicia Evans?" one smirked. Alicia recognised them, Anthony Goldstien, Terry Boot and Michael Corner all three of which were in her year.

"Hey," Alicia smiled

"What are you doing here?"

"I was just talking to Cho." Alicia shrugged "Don't worry I doubt she was going to show me into your common room." she assured with a grin. Anthony smiled as he shrugged

"Doubt you'd be able to get in anyway." he said and Alicia rose an eyebrow

"What? Cause I don't know the password?" she wondered

"Well no one has a password." Terry admitted "Cause there isn't one."

"How do you guys get in then?" Alicia wondered as she turned to Cho.

"It's a question, you need to get the answer correct." she explained

"What happens if you don't?" Alicia asked them

"You wait for someone else to come and answer it, that way you learn something." Michael shrugged

"Wow… you Ravenclaws and your brains…" Alicia mumbled "You'd get along well with Hermione." she nodded. Cho's friends didn't look all too keen about this but the boys smirked.

"Anyway, thanks Cho, I'll talk to you later." she smiled and Cho nodded before the girl turned to move off towards the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey Alicia!" the girl turned as Anthony called her. "Want to go to the ball with me?" Alicia blinked surprised by the sudden question. Cho smiled as a few of her friends giggled. Terry and Michael looked surprised, but grinning at their friends boldness.

"Alright." Alicia decided with a smile before she waved and continued on her way, grinning.

Alicia couldn't help but feel excited as she made her way back to the common room.

"Hey Alicia," Ginny smiled as she entered the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey Ginny." Alicia smiled as she sat with the girl. She was doing some Defence Against the Dark Arts homework.

"You seeming a good mood?" Ginny thought

"Well…" Alicia said "I just got asked to the ball." Ginny grinned

"Really? By who?"

"Anthony Goldstein. In Ravenclaw." she admitted

"I wish I could go." Ginny sighed

"Well you can if someone asks you." Alicia reminded her and Ginny nodded.

Following Alicia's invite from Anthony the girl spent a little more time with in, and by extension, Cho, leading her to socialising a little more with other people from the other houses. The boys, who hadn't taken much notice as to who she was spending time with, had no clue as to why she was socialising until they walked into the Great Hall one morning and saw her at the Ravenclaw table. She was sitting casually on the bench next to Anthony, Terry and Michael opposite her, but what really got Harry's attention was Cho on her other side.

"What's she doing?" Harry demanded to Ron as they moved to the Gryffindor table. "They aren't friends?!"

"Seems like they are…" the two sat with Hermione and Harry immediately asked what was going on.

"Oh don't be so thick Harry. She's doing it for you." Harry looked confused "Alicia knows you're crushing on her and how much easier would it be to talk to Cho if she's friends with your sister?" Hermione whispered the last bit. "Alicia's spent quite a bit of time with her the last few days."

"How?" Ron asked

"She approached her and spoke a little about Quidditch, Alicia asked her on dress advice as they both have black hair…" Hermione listed calmly, Harry raised an eyebrow, as though expecting something else to be the reason. "Besides, she's noticed you both getting nervous." Hermione added

Hermione was right, Harry and Ron were getting very nervous now as they still didn't have dates, though as Harry pointed out, Ron would look much less stupid than he would without a partner; Harry was supposed to be starting the dancing with the other champions.

"I suppose there's always Moaning Myrtle," he said gloomily, referring to the ghost who haunted the girls' toilets on the second floor.

"Don't be absurd." Alicia said as she sat opposite "You're not taking a damn ghost, how embarrassing."

"Well it seems you're asking Cho for Harry, he got a date yet?" Ron asked

"I told you you have advantages, you just haven't used them."

"Advantages like what?"

"Don't you think it's a little easier for a girl to corner a girl?" Alicia asked "You were so worried about asking girls in front of their friends yet didn't think that Hermione and I could help?"

"Don't pull me into this." Hermione said

"You want Harry to open the ball alone?" she asked and Hermione sighed

"No."

"Well then."

But that realisation still didn't seem to help the boys.

"Harry — we've just got to grit our teeth and do it," said Ron on Friday morning, in a tone that suggested they were planning the storming of an impregnable fortress. "When we get back to the common room tonight, we'll both have partners — agreed?"

"Er… okay," said Harry.

Harry however didn't have the guts to ask Cho when she was around her friends and this happened to be always. She never went anywhere alone, after all, the girl was quite popular. Unfortunately, they were running out of time.

"What do I do?" Harry whispered to Alicia on the way to Potions

"You ask to talk to her?"

"Her friends will all know?"

"You're not gonna get to ask her any other way." Alicia said as they entered the classroom.

It seemed Alicia's advice didn't help as much for Harry forgot the most critical ingredient in the antidote potion, a bezoar, and got the bottom marks. Alicia didn't even see him get angry, he just didn't care. But he did look nervous and when the bell rang he ran from the classroom with a "meet you at dinner" and left.

"Where's he going?" Ron asked

"To find Cho." Alicia guessed as they walked up the stairs. They saw Neville before them looking slightly gloomy.

"What's up Neville?" Alicia wondered

"Oh… I uh…" he seemed rather down "I just asked Hermione to the ball." Ron snorted but covered it up as a cough rather well.

"What did she say?" Alicia frowned knowing the answer, she'd been with Hermione when a certain someone had asked for her to accompany him.

"She said no, that she was already going with someone." Ron looked surprised by this but it then turned to a slight smirk. "I just thought… she's always nice, and helping me with work… but…" Neville frowned and Alicia placed a hand on his shoulder

"It's alright Neville, there are others. Unfortunately things like this are a first in best dressed sort of thing." she sighed "Don't give up though there are a lot of people in this school." she assured with a smile. She turned around to look for Hermione but the bushy haired girl had clearly already disappeared into the Great Hall. Instead Alicia spotted the flaming red hair of someone else and waved. Ginny grinned and moved over to her.

"Hey."

"Hey Ginny." Alicia smiled "How you doing?"

"Not bad." she smiled "You?"

"Mm, yeah good." Alicia grinned and Ginny chuckled at her

"Eat dinner with me?" she asked

"It's a date." Alicia smirked as the two shared a one armed hug.

Both were distracted however when Ron's voice suddenly split through the entrance hall.

"Hey Fleur, go to the ball with me?" both girls' mouths fell open and they stared shocked. A few others in the entrance hall looked as well and some even laughed, Slytherins mostly.

Fleur however looked confused, shocked even. Or maybe it was like Ron had two heads…?

Before Ginny or Alicia could say anything, Ron had ran for the marble staircase and vanished up it, causing a lot of others to laugh at him too. The girls shared a look and hurried after him all the way to the Gryffindor tower and through the porthole ("Fairy lights"). Ron was sitting on a seat with his head in his hands and all the colour gone from his face.

Alicia hurried over to him and sat beside him as Ginny ran in through the porthole. Alicia looked confused from her delay, having thought the girl was right behind her.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asked as she approached her brother. Alicia gave her a look and she brushed it away for a conversation later on.

"What was that?" Alicia wondered "That's not like you at all."

"I don't know what happened…" Ron muttered

"It's fine, it doesn't matter." Ginny assured

"She probably had a few others do the same."

"In front of that many people?"

"Depends if she used her veela charm or not." Alicia shrugged as the porthole opened. Harry walked in and spotted the three of them.

"What's up, Ron?" said Harry, joining them.

Ron looked up at Harry, a sort of blind horror in his face.

"Why did I do it?" he said wildly. "I don't know what made me do it!"

"What?" said Harry.

"He — er — just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him," said Ginny. She looked as though she was fighting back a smile, but she kept patting Ron's arm sympathetically. Alicia however grinned

"You _what_?" said Harry.

"It was a real surprise actually." Alicia confessed "He suddenly just shouted across the entrance hall."

"I don't know what made me do it!" Ron gasped again. "What was I playing at? There were people — all around — I've gone mad — everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the entrance hall — she was standing there talking to Diggory — and it sort of came over me — and I asked her!"

Ron moaned and put his face in his hands. He kept talking, though the words were barely distinguishable.

"She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then — I dunno — I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it."

"She's part veela," said Harry. "You were right — her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault, I bet you just walked past when she was turning on the old charm for Diggory and got a blast of it — but she was wasting her time. He's going with Cho Chang."

Ron looked up and Alicia looked surprised.

"I asked her to go with me just now," Harry said dully, "and she told me."

Ginny had suddenly stopped smiling.

"Well that would have been nice to know." Alicia muttered "Why didn't I ask her that first…?"

"This is mad," said Ron. "We're the only ones left who haven't got anyone — well, except Neville. Hey — guess who he asked? _Hermione_!"

" _What_?" said Harry, completely distracted by this startling news. Alicia rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I know!" said Ron, some of the colour coming back into his face as he started to laugh. "He told Alicia and I after Potions! Said she's always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff — but she told him she was already going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn't want to go with Neville… I mean, who would?"

"Ron!" Alicia snapped

"Don't!" said Ginny, annoyed. "Don't laugh —"

"Besides Hermione does have a partner." Alicia admitted

Just then Hermione climbed in through the portrait hole.

"Why weren't you lot at dinner?" she said, coming over to join them.

"Because — oh shut up laughing, you two — because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball!" said Ginny.

That shut Harry and Ron up.

"Thanks a bunch, Ginny," said Ron sourly.

"Not nice it is." Alicia smirked

"All the good-looking ones taken, Ron?" said Hermione loftily. "Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now, is she? Well, I'm sure you'll find someone _somewhere_ who'll have you."

But Ron was staring at Hermione as though suddenly seeing her in a whole new light.

"Hermione, Neville's right — you _are_ a girl…"

"Really?" Alicia asked

"Oh well spotted," she said acidly.

"Well — you can come with one of us!"

"No, I can't," snapped Hermione.

"Oh come on," he said impatiently, "we need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has…" Ron looked at Alicia "Alicia can too!" she raised her eyebrows.

"Sorry is being Harry's —" Harry covered her mouth and she removed it annoyed "Blinded you from seeing me as a girl?" she asked, leaving out the obvious word as Ginny looked confused.

"Seriously Ronald this is really insulting." she snapped

"I can't come with you," said Hermione, now blushing, "because I'm already going with someone."

"No, you're not!" said Ron. "You just said that to get rid of Neville!"

"Oh _did_ I?" said Hermione, and her eyes flashed dangerously. "Just because it's taken _you_ three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one _else_ has spotted I'm a girl!"

Ron stared at her. Then he grinned again.

"Okay, okay, we know you're a girl," he said. "That do? Will you come now?"

"Ron stop being so stupid." Alicia said "It's insulting and you're going to look very stupid."

"I've already told you!" Hermione said very angrily. "I'm going with someone else!"

And she stormed off toward the girls' dormitories again.

"She's lying," said Ron flatly, watching her go.

"She's not," said Ginny and Alicia quietly.

"Who is it then?" said Ron sharply.

"I'm not telling you, it's her business," said Ginny.

"If she wanted you to know she'd have told you." Alicia said simple

"Right," said Ron, who looked extremely put out, "this is getting stupid. Ginny, _you_ can go with Harry, and I'll go with Alicia."

"Sorry, I can't." Alicia shrugged when Ginny said "I can't," she went scarlet too.

"I'm going with — with Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought… well… I'm not going to be able to go otherwise, I'm not in fourth year." She looked extremely miserable. "I think I'll go and have dinner," she said, and she got up and walked off to the portrait hole, her head bowed.

"Who are you going with?" Ron said to Alicia

"Anthony Goldstein." Alicia shrugged

"What?!"

"Yeah he asked me when I was talking to Cho." she said simply "Sorry boys, you should have asked us sooner." and she turned to the porthole, racing out of it.

"Hey Ginny, wait up! You promised me a dinner date!" The entire common room burst out laughing as the porthole closed behind her.

Ron goggled at Harry.

"What's got into them?" he demanded.

"Alright, I saw that." Alicia said as she caught Ginny

"What?" Ginny asked

"You looked torn when Harry said he'd asked Cho to the ball." Ginny sighed

"Well… I guess, I was kinda…"

"Jealous?" Alicia asked with a grin "Has you're little eleven year old crush not subsided?" Alicia wondered. Ginny's face turned scarlet.

"Aww…" Alicia looked annoyed with herself "Why didn't I tell him to ask you?" she muttered and Ginny looked surprised. "If I'd asked Cho who she was going with and then found out you wanted to go then I'd definitely have made the suggestion." she rolled her eyes and Ginny giggled

"You can't fix everything Alicia."

"When it comes to Harry and girls, I think it's kinda my job." Alicia confessed

"Why?" Ginny asked

"Best friend…"

"Why didn't you go with him then?"

"Would've been weird." Alicia muttered, then shook her head "Besides, Cho's taken by Cedric so you've still got that chance. And if you want to escape Neville you can always come hang with me, I'd love to give you a dance." Ginny laughed as they entered the Great Hall.

"A real cliche though don't you think?" Alicia said as they sat down.

"What is?" Ginny wondered, loading her plate with food.

"Younger sister falls for brother's best friend." Alicia said laughing and Ginny looked at her annoyed before she kicked her under the table.

"Ouch!" Alicia complained, glaring daggers. Ginny ducked as Alicia threw a potato at her before laughing.

"This is when I need an older sister to help me." Ginny said

"What am I? A mouse?" Alicia asked pretending to be insulted, but Ginny only laughed harder.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: 

Alicia spent the first week of the holidays getting rid of every bit of homework the fourth years had been loaded with for the last week, of which was a lot. Unlike Harry Alicia still had to sit the exams, something Hermione had reminded her and Ron of. It was a lot harder to do the homework this year than previous for the Gryffindor Tower was hardly less crowded now than during term-time; it seemed to have shrunk slightly too, as its inhabitants were being so much rowdier than usual. Alicia had spent a bit of time in the library to escape the noise, being joined by the Ravenclaws, of which were impressed by her intelligence, something Ravenclaws held pride in.

Fred and George had had a great success with their Canary Creams, and for the first couple of days of the holidays, people kept bursting into feather all over the place. Before long, however, all the Gryffindors had learned to treat food anybody else offered them with extreme caution, in case it had a Canary Cream concealed in the centre, and George confided to Harry and Alicia that he and Fred were now working on developing something else.

"I'm never eating anything you give me and if you test it on me, I swear I'll erase every memory and thought you have of these plans." Alicia threatened, neither she nor Harry had forgotten Dudley and the Ton-Tongue Toffee.

Snow was falling thickly upon the castle and its grounds now. The pale blue Beauxbatons carriage looked like a large, chilly, frosted pumpkin next to the iced gingerbread house that was Hagrid's cabin, while the Durmstrang ship's portholes were glazed with ice, the rigging white with frost. The house-elves down in the kitchen were outdoing themselves with a series of rich, warming stews and savoury puddings, and only Fleur Delacour seemed to be able to find anything to complain about.

"It is too 'eavy, all zis 'Ogwarts food," they heard her saying grumpily as they left the Great Hall behind her one evening (Ron skulking behind Harry, keen not to be spotted by Fleur). "I will not fit into my dress robes!"

"Oooh there's a tragedy," Hermione snapped as Fleur went out into the entrance hall. "She really thinks a lot of herself, that one, doesn't she?"

"She just needs to eat less." Alicia rolled her eyes.

"Hermione — who are you going to the ball with?" said Ron.

He kept springing this question on her, hoping to startle her into a response by asking it when she least expected it. However, Hermione merely frowned and said, "I'm not telling you, you'll just make fun of me."

"You're joking, Weasley!" said Malfoy, behind them. "You're not telling me someone's asked _that_ to the ball? Not the long-molared Mudblood?"

Harry and Ron both whipped around, but Hermione said loudly, waving to somebody over Malfoy's shoulder, "Hello, Professor Moody!"

Malfoy went pale and jumped backward, looking wildly around for Moody, but he was still up at the staff table, finishing his stew.

"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malfoy?" said Hermione scathingly, and she, Alicia Harry, and Ron went up the marble staircase laughing heartily.

"Hermione," said Ron, looking sideways at her, suddenly frowning, "your teeth…"

"What about them?" she said.

"Well, they're different… I've just noticed…"

"Of course they are — did you expect me to keep those fangs Malfoy gave me?"

"No, I mean, they're different to how they were before he put that hex on you… They're all… straight and — and normal-sized."

Hermione suddenly smiled very mischievously.

"Well… when I went up to Madam Pomfrey to get them shrunk, she held up a mirror and told me to stop her when they were back to how they normally were," she said. "And I just… let her carry on a bit." She smiled even more widely.

"Honestly, you boys don't notice anything." Alicia said with a smirk

"Did you notice?"

"Of course, it's a girls' job, noticing these things is usually caused by jealousy." and the boys chuckled as Hermione continued

"Mum and Dad won't be too pleased. I've been trying to persuade them to let me shrink them for ages, but they wanted me to carry on with my braces. You know, they're dentists, they just don't think teeth and magic should — look! Pigwidgeon's back!"

Ron's tiny owl was twittering madly on the top of the icicle-laden banisters, a scroll of parchment tied to his leg. People passing him were pointing and laughing, and a group of third-year girls paused and said, "Oh look at the weeny owl! Isn't he _cute_?"

"Stupid little feathery git!" Ron hissed, hurrying up the stairs and snatching up Pigwidgeon. "You bring letters to the addressee! You don't hang around showing off!"

"But he is adorable." Alicia grinned laughing "He's so proud of himself for delivering his letter and bring one back again he had to tell people." Ron looked at her annoyed and Alicia just laughed harder.

Pigwidgeon hooted happily, his head protruding over Ron's fist. The third-year girls all looked very shocked.

"Clear off!" Ron snapped at them, waving the fist holding Pigwidgeon, who hooted more happily than ever as he soared through the air. "Here — take it, Harry," Ron added in an undertone as the third-year girls scuttled away looking scandalised. He pulled Sirius's reply off Pigwidgeon's leg, Harry pocketed it, and they hurried back to Gryffindor Tower to read it.

Everyone in the common room was much too busy in letting off more holiday steam to observe what anyone else was up to. Ron, Harry, Alicia and Hermione sat apart from everyone else by a dark window that was gradually filling up with snow, and Harry read out:

 _Dear Harry,_

 _Congratulations on getting past the Horntail. Whoever put your name in that goblet shouldn't be feeling too happy right now! I was going to suggest a Conjunctivitis Curse, as a dragon's eyes are its weakest point —_

"That's what Krum did!" Hermione whispered

"Pfft, the broom was smarter." Alicia thought

 _— but your way was better, I'm impressed._

 _Don't get complacent, though, Harry. You've only done one task; whoever put you in for the tournament's got plenty more opportunity if they're trying to hurt you. Keep your eyes open — particularly when the person we discussed is around — and concentrate on keeping yourself out of trouble._

 _Keep in touch, I still want to hear about anything unusual._

 _Sirius_

"He sounds exactly like Moody," said Harry quietly, tucking the letter away again inside his robes. "'Constant vigilance!' You'd think I walk around with my eyes shut, banging off the walls…"

"But he's right, Harry," said Hermione, "you _have_ still got two tasks to do. You really ought to have a look at that egg, you know, and start working out what it means…"

"Hermione, he's got ages!" snapped Ron. "Want a game of chess, Harry?"

"Yeah, okay," said Harry. Then, spotting the look on Hermione's face, he said, "Come on, how'm I supposed to concentrate with all this noise going on? I won't even be able to hear the egg over this lot."

"Oh I suppose not," she sighed,

"Besides, with no school work for the holidays and once the balls over, he'll have a heap of time." Alicia said "Better we get it done before term though." she added to Harry, "That and homework sounds like a nightmare." Harry sighed and nodded in agreement before the girls sat down to watch their chess match, which culminated in an exciting checkmate of Ron's, involving a couple of recklessly brave pawns and a very violent bishop.

* * *

Christmas morning Alicia was at the boys dormitory as usual, forgetting it consisted of three more boys than usual, and she threw open the door.

"Merry Christmas!" Seamus, Dean and Neville all jumped, Neville letting out a cry.

"Oh… I forgot you three were here. Morning." she grinned and Ron started laughing.

"Morning Alicia." He said and Alicia grinned before skipping over and handing him a parcel.

"Here you are." she grinned and turned to Harry, however she now noticed Dobby was there too, a Christmas bauble tied to the loop on top of his tea cozy.

"Dobby!" she grinned and moved over to give him a present "I got this for you when I found out you were here." she grinned.

Dobby beamed and took the parcel from her hands, opening it. It consisted of a t-shirt.

"To wear on warmer days when Ron's sweater is too much." she smiled

"Alicia Evans is too kind! Thank you! Dobby is most pleased!"

"Any time." she smiled before taking another gift and handing it to Harry. "And this one's yours." she smiled

"Can Dobby give Harry Potter his present too?" Dobby squeaked tentatively.

"'Course you can," said Harry. "Er… I've got something for you too." Alicia raised an eyebrow as Harry leaned over and opened his trunk. He pulled the sneakerscope out of a pair of mustard yellow socks that Alicia knew had belonged to Uncle Vernon and handed them to Dobby.

"Sorry, I forgot to wrap them…"

But Dobby was utterly delighted.

"Socks are Dobby's favourite, favourite clothes, sir!" he said, ripping off his odd ones and pulling on Uncle Vernon's. "I has seven now, sir… But sir…" he said, his eyes widening, having pulled both socks up to their highest extent, so that they reached to the bottom of his shorts, "they has made a mistake in the shop, Harry Potter, they is giving you two the same!"

"Ah, no, Harry, how come you didn't spot that?" said Ron, grinning over from his own bed, which was now strewn with wrapping paper. Alicia giggled as she sat on Harry's bed "Tell you what, Dobby — here you go — take these two, and you can mix them up properly. And here's your sweater." He threw Dobby a pair of violet socks he had just unwrapped, and the hand-knitted sweater Mrs. Weasley had sent. Dobby looked quite overwhelmed.

"Sir is very kind!" he squeaked, his eyes brimming with tears again, bowing deeply to Ron. "Dobby knew sir must be a great wizard, for he is Harry Potter's greatest friend, but Dobby did not know that he was also as generous of spirit, as noble, as selfless —" Alicia had a hand over her mouth to snuffle her laughter and Ron shot her a look before saying

"They're only socks," he had gone slightly pink around the ears, though he looked rather pleased all the same. "Wow, Harry —" He had just opened Harry's present, a Chudley Cannon hat. "Cool!" He jammed it onto his head, where it clashed horribly with his hair.

Dobby now handed Harry a small package, which turned out to be — socks.

"Dobby is making them himself, sir!" the elf said happily. "He is buying the wool out of his wages, sir!"

The left sock was bright red and had a pattern of broomsticks upon it; the right sock was green with a pattern of Snitches.

"They're… they're really… well, thanks, Dobby," said Harry, and he pulled them on, causing Dobby's eyes to leak with happiness again.

"Woollen socks make excellent bed socks for winter." Alicia grinned

"Alicia Evans thinks so? Good because Dobby made her some as well." And Dobby handed Alicia a parcel much to her own surprise.

"Wow Dobby, thanks." she said as she revealed one lilic sock, and one blue, one held a wand pattern and the other a broom like Harry's. She grinned and copied Harry by pulling them on.

"Like I said, perfect bed socks." she grinned and Dobby looked absolutely delighted.

"Dobby must go now, sir, miss, we is already making Christmas dinner in the kitchens!" said Dobby, and he hurried out of the dormitory, waving good-bye to Ron and the others as he passed.

"How cute." Alicia smiled and she then proceeded to unwrap her presents which she'd brought in with her.

"Alicia what are you doing in here?" Dean suddenly asked her. She grinned

"I'm always here christmas morning. Like a christmas tradition, this making three years. You three usually go home so I forgot you were here." she admitted with a shrug as she unwrapped Harry's present to be a quidditch book. "Ha, we think alike." she smirked as Harry revealed one as well. Her's she gave him were on tricky dives and tricks for broomsticks while Harry had given Alicia one on all the different types of brooms over the years and the special properties of them all.

Hermione had gotten Alicia yet another charms book, however this one contained spells much more advanced than she had read or performed so far. Ron had given her a bunch of random objects from Zonko's joke shop. Sirius sent her a wizard pocket knife in which had a few gadgets Alicia had never seen, Hagrid gave her a heap of sweets and Mrs Weasley gave her another jacket, a zip down the middle and some fudge.

Harry received a book called _Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland_ from Hermione; Ron, a bulging bag of Dungbombs; Sirius, a handy penknife with attachments to unlock any lock and undo any knot; and Hagrid, a vast box of sweets including all Harry's favourites: Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and Fizzing Whizbees. There was also, of course, Mrs. Weasley's usual package, including a new sweater (green, with a picture of a dragon on it — Alicia supposed Charlie had told her all about the Horntail), and a large quantity of homemade mince pies.

Alicia left to get changed and then she and Hermione met the boys in the common room to proceed for the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Morning Alicia." Anthony came and sat beside her, by himself for once as Harry and Ron stopped turning to him with confusion.

"Morning." Alicia smiled.

"Merry Christmas." he held up a parcel and Alicia blinked surprised.

"Thanks." she smiled as she hooked her finger below a bit of paper and yanked to remove it. A small cloth bag was within the paper and Alicia turned it upside down to reveal a rich dark purple stone on a gold chain. Alicia looked surprised as Hermione's mouth opened. Ron grunted as Harry was watching Anthony with scrutiny.

"Wow…" Alicia mumbled

"Cho suggested it if I'm honest, when I asked what to give you." Anthony admitted "Said it would go with your dress robes." He was right and Alicia grinned.

"Thanks." she said happily as she put the necklace back in the bag for safety and put the cloth bag in her pocket. "It's exactly what I needed actually."

"You're welcome." Anthony smiled "I'll see you later yeah?" he asked

"Bottom of the stairs?" she asked and he nodded before getting up and walking away.

Alicia released a breath.

"Wow…" she said again

"That was nice of him." Hermione believed

"What's he doing?" Ron demanded as Alicia looked up at the two boys opposite them.

"Being nice?" Alicia asked before growing annoyed. "Don't go getting all defensive Ron."

"Besides, that's Harry's job." Hermione said.

"It's also none of your business." Alicia decided. Ron said nothing more as he glanced at Harry who was watching Anthony as he sat at the Ravenclaw table.

They spent most of the morning in Gryffindor Tower, where everyone was enjoying their presents, then returned to the Great Hall for a magnificent lunch, which included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas puddings, and large piles of Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers.

They went out onto the grounds in the afternoon; the snow was untouched except for the deep channels made by the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students on their way up to the castle. Hermione chose to watch Harry, Alicia and the Weasleys' snowball fight rather than join in, and at five o'clock said she was going back upstairs to get ready for the ball.

"What, you need three hours?" said Ron, looking at her incredulously and paying for his lapse in concentration when a large snowball, thrown by George, hit him hard on the side of the head.

"You forget we're girls Ron." Alicia threw her last snow ball at Harry's face, he stumbled backwards and hit the ground as she laughed and took Hermione's hand, the two running for the castle.

"Who're you going with?" Ron yelled after the two girls, but Hermione just waved and disappeared up the stone steps into the castle.

The girls went to the Gryffindor common room and then up to the dormitory, both had managed to get their dresses delivered and both were rather excited about it. Lavender and Parvati were giggling in the other corner as they got ready and Hermione sat on her bed as Alicia magicked a mirror to float before her.

"So, do I get to do your hair?" she asked with a grin and Hermione nodded.

Alicia had a marvellous time taming Hermione's bushy hair and styling it to match her dress. She added few things to hide the pins as Lavender and Parvati left and then helped Hermione into her dress before the girls swapped. Hermione curled Alicia's black hair and then pinned half of it to the side so that it flowed over her right shoulder, the curls bouncing as she moved. Hermione then helped Alicia into her dress, careful to not ruin her hair and the girls proceeded to help one another with their makeup.

"I need to go." Hermione said as she checked herself in the mirror again.

"Yeah that's alright, I assume you need to meet him?" Alicia said and Hermione nodded "I just need to throw on my jewellery and I'm good to go." she smiled "I'll see you down there." Hermione nodded before she left the dormitory.

Alicia clipped the necklace that Anthony had given here around her neck to match her outfit, slipped some earnings into her ears and rings on her fingers, touching it up with a few bangles before she checked herself in the mirror. Her robes were a misty lavender colour did match the necklace holding the stone of rich dark purple. Her jewellery was otherwise all gold and Hermione had told her it fit well with her eyes.

Taking a deep breath Alicia pulled her shoes on and then proceeded down to the common room. The first thing she heard was a whistle and when she looked up she saw Fred and George looking her way with grins.

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment." she smiled

"You look amazing." Fred said

"Thanks. I need to go and meet Anthony down stairs."

"Promise a dance with us?" the twins chorused and Alicia laughed

"If you behave." and she moved to the porthole and down the marble staircase.

The entrance hall was full of people trying to locate their partners as those went with people from other houses.

"Wow, you look gorgeous." Alicia turned around and smiled at Anthony

"Thank you." He was wearing navy robes "You looked nice yourself."

"Didn't need as much effort as you though."

"Well girls do enjoy dressing up." Alicia chuckled as they moved through the crowd of people. "So, are you nervous?" she wondered, biting her lipstick covered lip.

"I am now I've seen you." Anthony said "I might not get a dance in." Alicia laughed

"I promise you will," and Anthony smiled back at her.

Alicia watched as Harry, Ron and Parvati walked down the marble staircase, thinking her brother looked rather nice in his bottle green robes and that Ron should have asked her to cut off the frills of his. He'd done an alright job but it looked incomplete, still fraying a bit.

A group of Slytherins came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Malfoy was in front; he was wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar. Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink was clutching Malfoy's arm, Alicia thought the term 'big' fit her very well. Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-coloured boulders, and neither of them had managed to find a partner.

The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to look as the Durmstrang students entered with Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the party, accompanied by a pretty girl in blue.

"Blimey." Anthony said, his mouth wide as Alicia smiled "It that Granger?!" Alicia giggled.

It was. Hermione's partner was Victor Krum. He'd asked her in the library a few weeks back after the announcement. Alicia had been with her and completely stunned, but his frequent trips to the library made a lot of sense after that.

Over their heads outside, just before the front door, an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights — meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rosebushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer.

Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Champions over here, please!"

Alicia turned to her brother and saw him and Parvati walking forwards, along with Cedric and Cho, Krum and Hermione and Fleur and Roger Davies.

Professor McGonagall, who was wearing dress robes of red tartan and had arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim of her hat, told them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down. Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davies looked so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a partner that he could hardly take his eyes off her.

"Shall we?" Anthony held his arm out for Alicia and she smiled, linking her's with his.

"We shall." she nodded and they entered the entrance hall to take a seat. The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.

It wasn't long after everyone was seated and the champions walked into the hall, everyone applauding as they did. They walked up toward a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting.

Alicia smiled as she watched Harry, he seemed nervous with an unsure look on his face while Parvati was beaming, seeming to have a lot of fun. Alicia spotted Ron who was watching Hermione pass with narrowed eyes and his partner seemed rather sulky, Alicia wasn't sure if it was because of Ron's robes or Ron himself.

Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table, but Karkaroff wore an expression remarkably like Ron's as he watched Krum and Hermione draw nearer. Ludo Bagman, tonight in robes of bright purple with large yellow stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the students; and Madame Maxime, who had changed her usual uniform of black satin for a flowing gown of lavender silk, was applauding them politely. But Mr. Crouch, however was not there. The fifth seat at the table was occupied by Percy Weasley.

When the champions and their partners reached the table, Percy drew out the empty chair beside him, staring pointedly at Harry. Alicia wasn't surprised Percy would want Harry beside him, someone he knew to boast to probably. Alicia assumed his presence had something to do with a promotion, why else would he get to take Mr Crouch's place?

Unlike his brother, Percy was wearing brand-new, navy-blue dress robes and an expression of such smugness that Alicia thought he'd get fired for it. Alicia saw as Percy said something to her twin before she noticed the menu before her. She assumed ordinary waiters were out of the question as the house elves were to stay mysterious but assumed some similar magic to normal meal times would used.

Looking over the food items she decided on a a chicken and gravy option before Dumbledore was first to demonstrate how the food was served up. He merely spoke his order to his plate and it appeared. Alicia felt weird talking to a plate but did anyway before she fell into conversation with Anthony and Terry who was on the table with them as she ate. Their other friend Michael Corner was there with his partner who was looking around the hall instead. Alicia wasn't surprised Michael had asked one of the Beauxbatons to be his partner, she had another friend on the table with another from their school with her who were in a conversation in french.

When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a flute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it.

The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments, and the lanterns on all the other tables went out.

The champions began to stand and Alicia chuckled slightly at Harry needing a prompt from Parvati to get up and dance as well, as he was supposed to open it with the other champions. Harry tripped over his dress robes as he stood up. The Weird Sisters struck up a slow, mournful tune; Harry walked onto the brightly lit dance floor, carefully avoiding catching anyone's eye, Alicia didn't blame him as Seamus and Dean were waving at him and sniggering. Parvati seemed rather controlling as she seized his hands, placed one around her waist, and was holding the other tightly in hers before they began to dance. Clearly she was leading also.

The first to join the champions was Dumbledore and Madam Maxime. Ginny and Neville quickly did the same and Moody went with Professor Sinister.

"May I have a dance?" Anthony asked

"I'd love that." Alicia smiled and he led her onto the floor, twirled her before they began to move with everyone else.

"So am I going to loose you tonight?" Anthony wondered

"Probably for a few songs, the Weasley twins each asked for a dance." Alicia smiled. She wanted to have one with Harry too, just to calm his nerves. Besides, she liked the idea of having a bother she could dance with, secret or not.

"I suppose Harry Potter would like one."

"He is like my brother."

"I'm surprised he didn't ask you?" Anthony said

"Good thing he didn't or you'd be with someone else."

"His loss is my gain I suppose." he smiled.

The song ended and Anthony bowed, giving a kiss to Alicia's palm who smiled.

"Should I get us some drinks?" he asked

"That'd be good, before they run out from dehydrated teenagers." Alicia said with a nod. "I'll be over there if you need me." Alicia had noticed Harry vanish in that direction "I might be on the dance floor otherwise?" she gave him a look and Anthony nodded an okay to which Alicia beamed. She then turned to follow her brother.

Ron's glare was in full force when Alicia approached them and Padma was tied in a knot almost, her arms and legs both crossed as she threw disgruntled looks at Ron. Parvati was gone before Alicia reached the table.

"You're not just going to sit there all night are you?" Both boys and Padma turned to look at Alicia and they both stared at her wide-eyed.

"Alicia!?" Ron questioned, she rolled her eves

"Jeez I add some makeup and do my hair and you'd think I was an alien."

"You look beautiful." Harry said

"Aww thanks." she smiled

"Has Anthony told you that?" Ron asked with a smirk

"Yes he has, along with a few others…"

"I expect you'll be getting a few more." Harry nodded his head and Alicia turned to see a few people staring at her

"Well, it pays to look gorgeous." she smirked. The song ended and Hermione brushed past Alicia to sit next to Harry.

"Alicia you do look beautiful." she said

"So do you, having fun?" Alicia asked and Hermione nodded.

"Hi," said Harry. Ron didn't say anything.

"It's hot, isn't it?" said Hermione, fanning herself with her hand. "Viktor's just gone to get some drinks."

"Anthony too." Alicia turned to see if she could spot him but there were too many heads in the way.  
Ron gave her a withering look.

" _Viktor_?" he said. "Hasn't he asked you to call him _Vicky_ yet?" Alicia rolled her eyes while Hermione looked at him in surprise.

"What's up with you?" she said.

"If you don't know," said Ron scathingly, "I'm not going to tell you."

Hermione stared at him, then at Harry, who shrugged. She even looked at Alicia but she was staring at Ron dumbfounded as though he was stupid. He was.

"Ron, what — ?"

"He's from Durmstrang!" spat Ron. "He's competing against Harry! Against Hogwarts! You — you're —" Ron was obviously casting around for words strong enough to describe Hermione's crime, " _fraternizing with the enemy,_ that's what you're doing!"

Hermione's mouth fell open.

"Don't be so stupid!" she said after a moment. "The _enemy_! Honestly — who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory?"

Alicia and Harry shared a look, this was going to go down hill fast. First Harry and Ron aren't speaking and now Hermione and Ron are going to have a spit… Ron's really not having a good year, next he'll piss Alicia off.

Ron had chosen to ignore Hermione's comment.

"I s'pose he asked you to come with him while you were both in the library?"

"Yes, he did," said Hermione and Alicia, Hermione's pink patches on her cheeks glowing more brightly. "So what?"

"What happened — trying to get him to join _spew,_ were you?"

"No, I wasn't! If you _really_ want to know, he — he said he'd been coming up to the library every day to try and talk to me, but he hadn't been able to pluck up the courage!" Hermione said this very quickly, and blushed so deeply that she was the same colour as Parvati's robes.

"It was rather cute." Alicia said to Harry who smirked

Ron didn't think so.

"Yeah, well — that's his story," said Ron nastily.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Obvious, isn't it? He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he? He knows who you hang around with… He's just trying to get closer to Harry — get inside information on him — or get near enough to jinx him —"

Hermione looked as though Ron had slapped her. When she spoke, her voice quivered.

"For your information, he hasn't asked me _one single thing_ about Harry, not one —"

Ron changed tack at the speed of light.

"Then he's hoping you'll help him find out what his egg means! I suppose you've been putting your heads together during those cozy little library sessions —"

"I'd _never_ help him work out that egg!" said Hermione, looking outraged. " _Never._ How could you say something like that — I want Harry to win the tournament, Harry knows that, don't you, Harry?"

Harry couldn't even get a word in.

"You've got a funny way of showing it," sneered Ron.

"This whole tournament's supposed to be about getting to know foreign wizards and making friends with them!" said Hermione hotly.

"No it isn't!" shouted Ron. "It's about winning!"  
People were starting to stare at them and Anthony walked up behind Alicia with a drink.

"What's going on?" he whispered

"Hot heads." Alicia answered "Idiocy… you know what, I think it's jealousy." Anthony looked between the two then at Alicia who nodded, liking her new deduction.

"Ron," said Harry quietly, "I haven't got a problem with Hermione coming with Krum —"

But Ron ignored Harry too.

"Why don't you go and find Vicky, he'll be wondering where you are," said Ron.

" _Don't call him Vicky_!"

Hermione jumped to her feet and stormed off across the dance floor, disappearing into the crowd. Ron watched her go with a mixture of anger and satisfaction on his face.

"Are you going to ask me to dance at all?" Padma asked him.

"No," said Ron, still glaring after Hermione.

"Fine," snapped Padma, and she got up and went to join Parvati and the Beauxbatons boy, who conjured up one of his friends to join them so fast that Harry could have sworn he had zoomed him there by a Summoning Charm.

"Vare is Herm-own-ninny?" said a voice.

Krum had just arrived at their table clutching two butterbeers.

"No idea," said Ron mulishly, looking up at him. "Lost her, have you?"

Krum was looking surly again.

"Veil, if you see her, tell her I haff drinks," he said,

"She just went through the crowd to look for you." Alicia smiled. Krum smiled at her and gave a nod before he slouched off.

"Made friends with Viktor Krum, have you, Ron?" Percy had bustled over, rubbing his hands together and looking extremely pompous. "Excellent! That's the whole point, you know — international magical cooperation!"

Percy now took Padma's vacated seat. The top table was now empty; Professor Dumbledore was dancing with Professor Sprout, Ludo Bagman with Professor McGonagall; Madame Maxime and Hagrid were cutting a wide path around the dance floor as they waltzed through the students, and Karkaroff was nowhere to be seen. When the next song ended, everybody applauded once more, and Harry saw Ludo Bagman kiss Professor McGonagall's hand and make his way back through the crowds, at which point Fred and George accosted him.

"What do they think they're doing, annoying senior Ministry members?" Percy hissed, watching Fred and George suspiciously. " _No_ respect…"

Alicia however had had a lightbulb from seeing them.

 _The gold!_

Ludo Bagman shook off Fred and George fairly quickly, however, and, spotting Harry, waved and came over to their table.

"I hope my brothers weren't bothering you, Mr. Bagman?" said Percy at once.

"What? Oh not at all, not at all!" said Bagman. "No, they were just telling me a bit more about those fake wands of theirs. Wondering if I could advise them on the marketing. I've promised to put them in touch with a couple of contacts of mine at Zonko's Joke Shop…"

Alicia raised an eyebrow. She glanced in the twins directions. It was either that, or the gold that vanished. Trying to get their inventions to sell was also a plausible option. Although Alicia liked the idea, Percy didn't look happy about this at all, and she assumed he would be rushing to tell Mrs. Weasley about this the moment he got home.

"Come on, we don't want to listen to Percy." Alicia breathed to Anthony and she took his hand to go and dance. They hardly made it to floor however when someone else grabbed Alicia's free hand. She turned around to be embraced by Fred.

"Promised me a dance remember?" he looked at Anthony

"Mind?" she asked him but Anthony shook his head before disappearing

"Noticed you're catching a bit of attention." Fred grinned

"I could get used to it." Alicia said smugly "You trying to sell your products to the public?" Fred looked surprised

"Bagman just told Percy, Harry, Ron and I what you wanted. Better watch your mother, Percy's gonna rat you out." Fred sighed as Alicia wondered if he'd run with that idea or not.

"Good thing we still have half year left." he grinned

"You know if you wanted a little funding to get you up and running I wouldn't mind helping." she smirked "After Harry wins it wont be a big deal."

"How's Harry winning going to help you?" Fred wondered

"Oh, just will." she shrugged

"You still haven't told me who those twins are."

"It's a challenge, work it out, it's not too hard."

"I don't know any twins better than us." he grinned

"Think harder. I mean I know someone who's better thn you."

"Oh yeah, who's that?"

"Me obviously."

"You're not a twin." Fred pointed out

"How would you know? I could have a secret sibling."

"You're an orphan."

"Exactly." Fred seemed to see her point

"Well if you don't know if you're a twin how can you say you're better?"

"Who said I didn't know?" Alicia grinned and Fred looked annoyed before George cut in.

"See if you can get some more info about these twins from her." Fred instructed and Alicia laughed.

Alicia danced with Seamus and Dean and even Neville too before she needed to have a break and get a drink. She moved to the table before being tapped on the shoulder.

"Having fun?" Ginny asked

"Yes actually." Alicia smiled "You?"

"Neville's actually an okay dancer." she admitted.

"That's good." Alicia smiled

"There you are." Anthony appeared and Alicia grinned

"Sorry, needed a drink." she admitted as Michael joined them, getting a drink himself. Alicia noticed the tow boys glancing at Ginny and introduced them to the red haired girl. Michael seemed interested enough to strike a conversation with the younger girl as Terry appeared and pulled Anthony away, to which Alicia chuckled at.

She found Hermione who still didn't look happy about Ron's attitude and tried to somehow get the girl to at least enjoy the moment and not let Ron ruin it. Alicia managed to dance with Krum when Hermione excused herself to powder her nose and he asked her all sorts of questions about the girl. Alicia couldn't help but smile at how much Krum had noticed her, it was quite a surprise really, but Alicia couldn't deny that Hermione was gorgeous.

Alicia danced more with Anthony who asked about her and what she liked, he complimented her quidditch and asked a few things that led in the direction of her being a thing with Harry, after two of those questions she assured that it would never be like that between them. They spoke about the fight between Hermione and Ron slightly as well before one of Anthony's friends cut in and took him away, to which he apologised to her. Alicia shook it off and moved to find her brother, who she saw in the corner with Ron.

"Sorry to break up your little man-date." Alicia smirked when she approached them.

"What?" the boys said confused, Alicia waved the comment away before continuing.

"I am demanding a dance." she said strongly and both boys looked worried "From both of you. So, who's going first?" she smirked.

Harry ended up going first and he found he had quite a bit of fun with his sister. Alicia learned they'd heard Snape and Karkaroff talking in the gardens and that the boys had heard Hagrid confessing that he was a half giant. She snorted when Harry told her that Madam Maxime believed she was big boned.

"I don't blame her for wanting to keep it silent, giants are known to be vicious. I mean she has quite a lot of respect from her students, if they found out she might have giant blood in her she might not be treated the same."

Alicia managed to get Ron up for one small dance, in which he grumbled the whole way. He did crack a few smiles when she snickered at a few couples around them who look slightly nervous and embarrassed.

Alicia was rather happy when the Weird Sisters finished playing at midnight, everyone gave them a last, loud round of applause and started to wend their way into the entrance hall. Many people were expressing the wish that the ball could have gone on longer, Alicia agreed it was fun and she'd like to dance some more but her feet were beginning to get sore, disagreeing with her wishes and she was ready for bed.

Anthony bided her goodnight in the entrance hall, placing a sweet kiss on her cheek before Harry and Ron appeared. Hermione was saying good night to Krum and she gave Ron a seriously cold look before leaving up the marble staircase.

"You're in for it." Alicia nodded from beside them. Ron merely grumbled and didn't seem to care much.

They three followed her up the marble staircase before someone called Harry's name and stopped them.

"Hey — Harry!"

It was Cedric Diggory. Cho waiting for him in the entrance hall below and Alicia gave her a wave to which she returned.

"Yeah?" said Harry coldly as Cedric ran up the stairs toward him.

Cedric looked as though he didn't want to say whatever it was in front of Ron, who shrugged, looking bad-tempered, and continued to climb the stairs.

"Shall I leave too?" Alicia wondered, Cedric seems to contemplate it before he turned back to Harry.

"Listen…" Cedric lowered his voice as Ron disappeared. "I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know that golden egg? Does yours wail when you open it?"

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Still hear the ringing." Alicia muttered rubbing her ear.

"Well… take a bath, okay?"

"What?"

"Sorry?" Alicia muttered confused, the twins shared a look.

"Take a bath, and — er — take the egg with you, and — er — just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help you think… Trust me.

Harry stared at him.

"Tell you what," Cedric said, "use the prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's 'pine fresh.' Gotta go… want to say good night —" He grinned at Harry again and hurried back down the stairs to Cho.

"We told him straight up and he's giving clues?" Alicia asked annoyed

"How am I meant to think in a bath?"

"Well baths are actually really good to clear your mind and help you relax." Alicia admitted "If you want I'll go the prefects bathroom instead." she smirked at him and Harry rolled his eyes

"If it wasn't a bath it wouldn't matter." Harry muttered

"Eh, we could always pretend it's a swimming pool, prefects bathroom it's bound to be huge." Alicia admitted with a shrug.

The Fat Lady and her friend Vi were snoozing in the picture over the portrait hole. Harry and Alicia both had to yell "Fairy lights!" before they woke them up, and when they did, they were extremely irritated. The two climbed into the common room and found Ron and Hermione having a blazing row. Standing ten feet apart, they were bellowing at each other, each scarlet in the face.

"Uh oh…" Alicia muttered

"Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?" yelled Hermione; her hair was coming down out of its elegant bun now, and her face was screwed up in anger.

"Oh yeah?" Ron yelled back. "What's that?"

"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"

Harry looked at Alicia but she just crossed her arms and waited for Ron's reply.

Ron mouthed soundlessly like a goldfish out of water as Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the girls' staircase to bed. Ron turned to look at Alicia and Harry.

"Well," he sputtered, looking thunderstruck, "well — that just proves — completely missed the point —"

"No she's right. It kind of hurt you forgot about us Ron, I mean you worried about partners when you've got the two of us with you on a daily basis." Alicia shrugged "I'm glad you think so good of us that the friend part remains in tact but forgetting we're girls kinda hurts our pride." she turned to Harry "Good night." and followed Hermione up the staircase.

It was clear to Alicia that her two friends were slowly growing something more than friendship no matter how much they bickered, how long it took to develop and when they realised it though, was an entirely different matter.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23:

No body was up early on boxing day, and by the time Alicia pulled herself away from her sheets and moved to the common room it was still rather quiet, many yawns punctuating the lazy conversations. Hermione's hair was bushy again; she confessed to Harry that Alicia had used liberal amounts of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on it for the ball, "but it's way too much bother to do every day," she said matter-of-factly, scratching a purring Crookshanks behind the ears.

"I'll say." Alicia yawned.

Ron and Hermione seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement not to discuss their argument. They were being quite friendly to each other, though oddly formal. Ron and Harry wasted no time in telling Hermione about the conversation they had overheard between Madame Maxime and Hagrid, but Hermione, like Alicia, didn't seem to find the news that Hagrid was a half-giant nearly as shocking as Ron did.

"Well, I thought he must be," she said, shrugging. "I knew he couldn't be pure giant because they're about twenty feet tall. But honestly, all this hysteria about giants. They can't _all_ be horrible… It's the same sort of prejudice that people have toward werewolves… It's just bigotry, isn't it?"

Ron looked as though he would have liked to reply scathingly, but perhaps he didn't want another row, because he contented himself with shaking his head disbelievingly while Hermione wasn't looking.

For the boys, it was time now to think of the homework they had neglected during the first week of the holidays. Everybody seemed to be feeling rather flat now that Christmas was over — everybody except Harry, that is, who was starting (once again) to feel slightly nervous.

The trouble was that February the twenty-fourth looked a lot closer from this side of Christmas, and he still hadn't done anything about working out the clue inside the golden egg. He therefore started taking the egg out of his trunk every time he went up to the dormitory, opening it, and listening intently, hoping that this time it would make some sense.

He'd even handed it to Alicia who had strained her ears as well, but still thought Harry should do what Cedric said and take it to the bath.

"I told you I'd do it for you, know one would know." she shrugged

"And if someone sees you with it?" he asked

"Invisibility cloak." was her simple answer.

Harry strained to think what the sound reminded him of, apart from thirty musical saws, but he had never heard anything else like it. He closed the egg, shook it vigorously, and opened it again to see if the sound had changed, but it hadn't. He tried asking the egg questions, shouting over all the wailing, but nothing happened. He even threw the egg across the room — though he hadn't really expected that to help. Alicia and Ron, who had been in the common room down stairs, had run up to find out what had happened.

"Really? You want to break your only clue instead?" Alicia scolded before disappearing down the stairs. She constantly told him to just do what Cedric said, and Harry had not forgotten the unhelpful hint. Unfortunately for Alicia though, Harry didn't like Cedric, the jealousy he felt towards Cedric having Cho instead of him made Harry try his hardest to not use Cedric's help, leaving Alicia's reminders useless.

Classes began back up as the new year began.

Snow was still thick upon the grounds, and the greenhouse windows were covered in condensation so thick that they couldn't see out of them in Herbology. Nobody was looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures much in this weather, though as Ron said, the skrewts would probably warm them up nicely, either by chasing them, or blasting off so forcefully that Hagrid's cabin would catch fire.

Alicia was in a bad mood that morning, something neither Harry or Ron understood the reason of as she had hardly said anything and almost strangled the plants they were supposed to be handling in Herbology. When they arrived at Hagrid's cabin, her mood did not increase as they found an elderly witch with closely cropped grey hair and a very prominent chin standing before his front door.

"Hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago," she barked at them as they struggled toward her through the snow.

"Who're you?" said Ron, staring at her. "Where's Hagrid?"

"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," she said briskly. "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."

"Where's Hagrid?" Harry repeated loudly.

"He is indisposed," said Professor Grubbly-Plank shortly.

Soft and unpleasant laughter reached their ears. Both twins turned turned; Draco Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins were joining the class. All of them looked gleeful, and none of them looked surprised to see Professor Grubbly-Plank.

"This way, please," said Professor Grubbly-Plank, and she strode off around the paddock where the Beauxbatons horses were shivering. Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione followed her, looking back over their shoulders at Hagrid's cabin. All the curtains were closed. Was Hagrid in there, alone and ill?

"What's wrong with Hagrid?" Harry said, hurrying to catch up with Professor Grubbly-Plank.

"Never you mind," she said as though she thought he was being nosy.

"I do mind, though," said Harry hotly. "What's up with him?"

Professor Grubbly-Plank acted as though she couldn't hear him. She led them past the paddock where the huge Beauxbatons horses were standing, huddled against the cold, and toward a tree on the edge of the forest, where a large and beautiful unicorn was tethered.

Many of the girls "ooooohed!" at the sight of the unicorn.

"Oh it's so beautiful!" whispered Lavender Brown. "How did she get it? They're supposed to be really hard to catch!"

The unicorn was so brightly white it made the snow all around look grey. It was pawing the ground nervously with its golden hooves and throwing back its horned head.

"Boys keep back!" barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, throwing out an arm and catching Harry hard in the chest. "They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it…"

Alicia moved towards it and was one of the many at the front. She listen as Grubbly-Plank explained the unicorns magical properties. Alicia's mind however was on the Daily Prophet from this morning.

Harry and Ron had over heard about Hagrid being half giant, and somehow, Rita Skeeter found out! Naturally Alicia was pissed, it didn't help that Malfoy had been interviewed and ruined the entire day for even worse and made up a lie about Crabbe being bitten by a flubberworm, of which don't have any teeth.

She assumed the unicorn could feel her anger for it leaned down towards her as though trying to calm her nerves, nudging her cheek. Many of the girls gasped and whispered about how they wished it would do the same to them but Alicia only reached up and patted the animal, giving a silent thank you.

Grubbly-Plank called back for the boys attention and Alicia turned to see Harry with a paper in his hands. Naturally that brought her anger back again.

"I hope she stays, that woman!" said Parvati Patil when the lesson had ended and they were all heading back to the castle for lunch. "That's more what I thought Care of Magical Creatures would be like… proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters…"

"Stop complaining Parvati, Hagrid's only trying." Alicia snapped, her patients was wearing thin.

"What about Hagrid?" Harry said angrily as they went up the steps.

"What about him?" said Parvati in a hard voice. "He can still be gamekeeper, can't he?"

Parvati had been very cool toward Harry since the ball. It probably had something to do with him paying her less than enough attention, but she seemed to have had a good time all the same. She was certainly telling anybody who would listen that she had made arrangements to meet the boy from Beauxbatons in Hogsmeade on the next weekend trip.

"That was a really good lesson," said Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. "I didn't know half the things Professor Grubbly-Plank told us about uni —"

"Look at this!" Harry snarled, and he shoved the _Daily Prophet_ article under Hermione's nose.

Hermione's mouth fell open as she read. Her reaction was exactly the same as Ron's.

Alicia took the paper, tapped it with her wand and watched as it burned on the table. She then proceeded to stab her sausages.

"You knew?" Harry asked

"I. Saw. It. This. Morning." she stabbed her sausage with each word before finally biting into it angrily.

"How did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You don't think Hagrid _told_ her?"

"No," said Harry "He never even told us, did he? I reckon she was so mad he wouldn't give her loads of horrible stuff about me, she went ferreting around to get him back."

"Maybe she heard him telling Madame Maxime at the ball," said Hermione quietly.

"We'd have seen her in the garden!" said Ron. "Anyway, she's not supposed to come into school anymore, Hagrid said Dumbledore banned her…"

"Maybe she's got an Invisibility Cloak," said Harry, ladling chicken casserole onto his plate and splashing it everywhere in his anger. "Sort of thing she'd do, isn't it, hide in bushes listening to people."

"Like you and Ron did, you mean," said Hermione.

"We weren't trying to hear him!" said Ron indignantly. "We didn't have any choice! The stupid prat, talking about his giantess mother where anyone could have heard him!"

"We've got to go and see him," said Harry. "This evening, after Divination. Tell him we want him back… you _do_ want him back?" he shot at Hermione.

"I — well, I'm not going to pretend it didn't make a nice change, having a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson for once — but I do want Hagrid back, of course I do!" Hermione added hastily, quailing under Harry's furious stare.

"Can we go after I kill Malfoy? I think I'd like to try one of those advance hexes from the book Hermione gave me."

"Alicia that's for learning purposes only until you learn to use them properly!" Hermione scolded

"Then you shouldn't have bloody given it to me." Alicia stood up and stormed out of the Great Hall. A few people jumped out of her way immediately.

"Better hope no one speaks to her, she's worse than an angry hippogriff…" Ron muttered. At that moment someone stood up from the Ravenclaw table.

"Alicia!" Anthony ran after her and the boys watched surprised.

"Think he really has a thing for Alicia?" Harry asked suspiciously

"He better have the next three weeks of homework down, he's about to end up in the hospital wing." Ron believed.

That evening after dinner, the four of them left the castle once more and went down through the frozen grounds to Hagrid's cabin. They knocked, and Fang's booming barks answered.

"Hagrid, it's us!" Harry shouted, pounding on the door. "Open up!

Hagrid didn't answer. They could hear Fang scratching at the door, whining, but it didn't open. They hammered on it for ten more minutes; Ron even went and banged on one of the windows, but there was no response.

"What's he avoiding _us_ for?" Hermione said when they had finally given up and were walking back to the school. "He surely doesn't think we'd care about him being half-giant?"

But it seemed that Hagrid did care. They didn't see a sign of him all week. He didn't appear at the staff table at mealtimes, they didn't see him going about his gamekeeper duties on the grounds, and Professor Grubbly-Plank continued to take the Care of Magical Creatures classes. Malfoy was gloating at every possible opportunity.

"Missing your half-breed pal?" he kept whispering to Harry whenever there was a teacher around, so that he was safe from Harry's retaliation. "Missing the elephant-man?"

Alicia had three detentions and Malfoy was stuck in the hospital wing for three days at a time from when she'd been caught retaliating as Alicia couldn't care less about detention when he egged her on like that.

There was a Hogsmeade visit halfway through January. Hermione was very surprised that Harry was going to go.

"I just thought you'd want to take advantage of the common room being quiet," she said. "Really get to work on that egg."

"Oh I — I reckon I've got a pretty good idea what it's about now," Harry lied.

"Have you really?" said Hermione, looking impressed. "Well done!"

Alicia shot Harry a look and he smiled guilty, it faltered when Alicia raised an eyebrow and she nodded as her suspicions were proved correct. He was lying.

Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione left the castle together on Saturday and set off through the cold, wet grounds toward the gates. As they passed the Durmstrang ship moored in the lake, they saw Viktor Krum emerge onto the deck, dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. He was very skinny indeed, but apparently a lot tougher than he looked, because he climbed up onto the side of the ship, stretched out his arms, and dived, right into the lake.

"He's mad!" said Harry, staring at Krum's dark head as it bobbed out into the middle of the lake. "It must be freezing, it's January!"

"It's a lot colder where he comes from," said Hermione. "I suppose it feels quite warm to him."

"Yeah, but there's still the giant squid," said Ron. He didn't sound anxious — if anything, he sounded hopeful. Hermione noticed his tone of voice and frowned.

"He's really nice, you know," she said. "He's not at all like you'd think, coming from Durmstrang. He likes it much better here, he told me."

Ron said nothing. He hadn't mentioned Viktor Krum since the ball, but Harry had told Alicia he'd found a miniature arm under his bed on Boxing Day, which had looked very much as though it had been snapped off a small model figure wearing Bulgarian Quidditch robes.

Alicia nudged Hermione and shook her head.

"Let's keep the Krum talk for when Ron's not around."

"Why?" Hermione asked

"Just trust me." she whispered.

Harry was scanning the way as they went to Hogsmeade and even as they entered the three broomsticks he continued to look for Hagrid. The pub was as crowded as ever, but one quick look around at all the tables told them that Hagrid wasn't there. Harry went up to the bar with Alicia, Ron and Hermione and ordered four butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta. He was very gloomy after that.

"Doesn't he _ever_ go into the office?" Hermione whispered suddenly. "Look!"

She pointed into the mirror behind the bar, and Alicia saw Ludo Bagman reflected there, sitting in a shadowy corner with a bunch of goblins. Bagman was talking very fast in a low voice to the goblins, all of whom had their arms crossed and were looking rather menacing.

It was indeed odd that Bagman was here at the Three Broomsticks on a weekend when there was no Triwizard event, and therefore no judging to be done. Alicia watched Bagman in the mirror. He was looking strained again, quite as strained as he had that night in the forest before the Dark Mark had appeared. But just then Bagman glanced over at the bar, saw Harry, and stood up.

"In a moment, in a moment!" Harry heard him say brusquely to the goblins, and Bagman hurried through the pub toward Harry, his boyish grin back in place.

"Harry!" he said. "How are you? Been hoping to run into you! Everything going all right?"

"Fine, thanks," said Harry.

"Wonder if I could have a quick, private word, Harry?" said Bagman eagerly. "You couldn't give us a moment, you three, could you?"

"Er — okay," said Ron, and he and Hermione went off to find a table. Alicia crossed her arms and Harry gave her a nod. She sighed and followed the other two.

"You know, I think Bagman might have a bet on Harry winning or something." she sighed as she sat down.

"Don't be ridiculous Alicia." Hermione scolded

"He tried to give Harry hints on how to get past the dragon and he's consorting with Goblins. Not only that but I bet he wants to talk about the egg." she pointed over her shoulder

"Harry's already close to doing that, he doesn't need help."

"Oh come on Hermione, you're not thick enough that you believed him are you?" Alicia asked with a smirk. Hermione looked surprised, and then disappointed.

The three watched Harry and Bagman before the Weasley Twins turned up and scared the ministry judge away, his goblins following. Harry walked towards the three and Ron sprinted the obvious question first.

"What did he want?" Ron said, the moment Harry had sat down.

"He offered to help me with the golden egg," said Harry.

"Told you." Alicia said simply and Ron stuck his tongue out at her.

"He shouldn't be doing that!" said Hermione, looking very shocked. "He's one of the judges! And anyway, you've already worked it out — haven't you?"

"Er… nearly," said Harry. Hermione shot him a look and looked at Alicia who gave her a slight shake of the head.

"Well, I don't think Dumbledore would like it if he knew Bagman was trying to persuade you to cheat!" said Hermione, still looking deeply disapproving. "I hope he's trying to help Cedric as much!"

"He's not, I asked," said Harry.

"Who cares if Diggory's getting help?" said Ron. Harry privately agreed.

"Those goblins didn't look very friendly," said Hermione, sipping her butterbeer. "What were they doing here?"

"Looking for Crouch, according to Bagman," said Harry. "He's still ill. Hasn't been into work."

"Maybe Percy's poisoning him," said Ron. "Probably thinks if Crouch snuffs it he'll be made head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

Alicia however frowned, even she knew Percy would rather get sacked than try that. But it was weird if Crouch wasn't going to work, work seemed to be the only thing the man lived for…

Hermione gave Ron a don't-joke-about-things-like-that look, and said, "Funny, goblins looking for Mr. Crouch… They'd normally deal with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"Crouch can speak loads of different languages, though," said Harry. "Maybe they need an interpreter."

"Worrying about poor 'ickle goblins, now, are you?" Ron asked Hermione. "Thinking of starting up S.P.U.G. or something? Society for the Protection of Ugly Goblins?"

"Ha, ha, ha," said Hermione sarcastically. "Goblins don't need protection. Haven't you been listening to what Professor Binns has been telling us about goblin rebellions?"

"No," said Harry and Ron together.

"Well, they're quite capable of dealing with wizards," said Hermione, taking another sip of butterbeer. "They're very clever. They're not like house-elves, who never stick up for themselves."

"Uh-oh," said Ron, staring at the door.

Rita Skeeter had just entered. She was wearing banana-yellow robes today; her long nails were painted shocking pink, and she was accompanied by her paunchy photographer.

All three of them grabbed Alicia's robes as she stood up and made a grab for her wand before pulling her back into her seat. Alicia crossed her arms begrudgingly and accompanied the others in glaring as they watched the women buy drinks, and she and the photographer made their way through the crowds to a table nearby, Harry, Ron, and Hermione glaring at her as she approached. She was talking fast and looking very satisfied about something.

"… didn't seem very keen to talk to us, did he, Bozo? Now, why would that be, do you think? And what's he doing with a pack of goblins in tow anyway? Showing them the sights… what nonsense… he was always a bad liar. Reckon something's up? Think we should do a bit of digging? 'Disgraced Ex-Head of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman…' Snappy start to a sentence, Bozo — we just need to find a story to fit it —"

"Trying to ruin someone else's life?" said Harry loudly.

A few people looked around. Rita Skeeter's eyes widened behind her jewelled spectacles as she saw who had spoken.

"Harry!" she said, beaming. "How lovely! Why don't you come and join — ?"

"I wouldn't come near you with a ten-foot broomstick," said Harry furiously.

"Not unless I'm going to…" Hermione covered Alicia's mouth to stop her from making a threat that would end up in the _Daily Prophet_.

"What did you do that to Hagrid for, eh?"

Rita Skeeter raised her heavily penciled eyebrows.

"Our readers have a right to the truth, Harry. I am merely doing my —"

"No you twisted the truth and made him look bad!" Alicia shouted standing up and slamming her hands on the table.

"Who cares if he's half-giant?" Harry shouted. "There's nothing wrong with him!"

"He was framed and kicked out of Hogwarts and now he's just trying to play his part, he doesn't need you ruining everything despite what arrogant pricks like you have put him through." Alicia snapped "Besides that article made you look like a dimwit for believing a flubberworm can bite without teeth!"

The whole pub had gone very quiet. Madam Rosmerta was staring over from behind the bar, apparently oblivious to the fact that the flagon she was filling with mead was overflowing.

Rita Skeeter's smile flickered very slightly, but she hitched it back almost at once; she snapped open her crocodile-skin handbag, pulled out her Quick-Quotes Quill, and said, "How about giving me an interview about the Hagrid _you_ know, Harry? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it. Would you call him a father substitute?"

"A father substitute!?" Alicia demanded, her voice almost a shriek "How dimwitted are you?!"

Hermione stood up very abruptly, her butterbeer clutched in her hand as though it were a grenade.

"You horrible woman," she said, through gritted teeth, "you don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman —"

"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand," said Rita Skeeter coldly, her eyes hardening as they fell on Hermione. "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl… _not_ that it needs it —" she added, eyeing Hermione's bushy hair.

"You're one to talk." Alicia eyed her rigid curls.

"Let's go," said Hermione, "c'mon, Harry — Alicia — Ron…"

They left; many people were staring at them as they went. Harry glanced back as they reached the door. Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quotes Quill was out; it was zooming backward and forward over a piece of parchment on the table.

"She'll be after you next, Hermione," said Ron in a low and worried voice as they walked quickly back up the street. "You too, Alicia."

"Like I give a shit." Alicia admitted

"Let her try!" said Hermione defiantly; she was shaking with rage. "I'll show her! Silly little girl, am I? Oh, I'll get her back for this. First Harry, then Hagrid…"

"You don't want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter," said Ron nervously. "I'm serious, Hermione, she'll dig up something on you —"

"My parents don't read the _Daily Prophet._ She can't scare me into hiding!" said Hermione, now striding along so fast that it was all Alicia, Harry and Ron could do to keep up with her. The last time the three of them had seen Hermione in a rage like this, she had hit Draco Malfoy around the face. "And Hagrid isn't hiding anymore! He should _never_ have let that excuse for a human being upset him! Come _on_!"

Breaking into a run, she led them all the way back up the road, through the gates flanked by winged boars, and up through the grounds to Hagrid's cabin.

The curtains were still drawn, and they could hear Fang barking as they approached.

"Hagrid!" Hermione shouted, pounding on his front door. "Hagrid, that's enough! We know you're in there! Nobody cares if your mum was a giantess, Hagrid! You can't let that foul Skeeter woman do this to you! Hagrid, get out here, you're just being —"

The door opened. Hermione said, "About t — !" and then stopped, very suddenly, because she had found herself face-to-face, not with Hagrid, but with Albus Dumbledore.

"Good afternoon," he said pleasantly, smiling down at them.

"Afternoon Professor. Sorry we just had a run in with Rita Skeeter." Alicia admitted

"Ah." Dumbledore nodded.

"We — er — we wanted to see Hagrid," said Hermione in a rather small voice.

"Yes, I surmised as much," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "Why don't you come in?"

"Oh… um… okay," said Hermione.

She, Alicia, Ron, and Harry went into the cabin; Fang launched himself upon Harry the moment he entered, barking madly and trying to lick his ears. Harry fended off Fang and looked around.

Hagrid was sitting at his table, where there were two large mugs of tea. He looked a real mess. His face was blotchy, his eyes swollen, and he had gone to the other extreme where his hair was concerned; far from trying to make it behave, it now looked like a wig of tangled wire.

"Hi, Hagrid," said Harry.

Hagrid looked up.

" 'Lo," he said in a very hoarse voice.

"More tea, I think," said Dumbledore, closing the door behind Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, drawing out his wand, and twiddling it; a revolving tea tray appeared in midair along with a plate of cakes. Dumbledore magicked the tray onto the table, and everybody sat down. There was a slight pause, and then Dumbledore said, "Did you by any chance hear what Miss Granger was shouting, Hagrid?"

Hermione went slightly pink, but Dumbledore smiled at her and continued, "Hermione, Alicia, Harry, and Ron still seem to want to know you, judging by the way they were attempting to break down the door."

"Absolutely we want you! Don't you dare give in and let that Crocodile do this to you!" Alicia snapped angry again.

"Of course we still want to know you!" Harry said, staring at Hagrid. "You don't think anything that Skeeter cow — sorry, Professor," he added quickly, looking at Dumbledore.

"I have gone temporarily deaf and haven't any idea what you said, Harry," said Dumbledore, twiddling his thumbs and staring at the ceiling. Alicia chuckled.

"Er — right," said Harry sheepishly. "I just meant — Hagrid, how could you think we'd care what that — woman — wrote about you?"

Two fat tears leaked out of Hagrid's beetle-black eyes and fell slowly into his tangled beard.

"Living proof of what I've been telling you, Hagrid," said Dumbledore, still looking carefully up at the ceiling. "I have shown you the letters from the countless parents who remember you from their own days here, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I sacked you, they would have something to say about it —"

"And that's not enough proof for you to teach again?" Alicia asked sadly and moved over to Hagrid

"Not all of 'em," said Hagrid hoarsely. "Not all of 'em wan' me ter stay."

"You mean there are two types of people in this world?" Alicia asked "Golly I had no fricken clue." Alicia thew her hands into the air.

"Alicia!" Hermione said

"Sorry. I'm angry and frustrated." she admitted before taking a deep breath.

"Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time," said Dumbledore, now peering sternly over his half-moon spectacles. "Not a week has passed since I became headmaster of this school when I haven't had at least one owl complaining about the way I run it. But what should I do? Barricade myself in my study and refuse to talk to anybody?"

"Yeh — yeh're not half-giant!" said Hagrid croakily.

"Hagrid, look what I've got for relatives!" Harry said furiously. "Look at the Dursleys!"

"You don't get to choose your family Hagrid!" Alicia said forcefully

"An excellent point," said Professor Dumbledore. "My own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He held his head high and went about his business as usual! Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been bravery…"

"Professor!" Alicia moaned, earning a smile

"Come back and teach, Hagrid," said Hermione quietly, "please come back, we really miss you."

Hagrid gulped. More tears leaked out down his cheeks and into his tangled beard.

Dumbledore stood up.

"I refuse to accept your resignation, Hagrid, and I expect you back at work on Monday," he said. "You will join me for breakfast at eight-thirty in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good afternoon to you all."

Dumbledore left the cabin, pausing only to scratch Fang's ears. When the door had shut behind him, Hagrid began to sob into his dustbin-lid-sized hands. Hermione kept patting his arm, and at last, Hagrid looked up, his eyes very red indeed, and said, "Great man, Dumbledore… great man…"

"Yeah, he is," said Ron. "Can I have one of these cakes, Hagrid?"

"Help yerself," said Hagrid, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. "Ar, he's righ', o' course — yeh're all righ'… I bin stupid… my ol' dad woulda bin ashamed o' the way I've bin behavin'…" More tears leaked out, but he wiped them away more forcefully, and said, "Never shown you a picture of my old dad, have I? Here…"

Hagrid got up, went over to his dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a picture of a short wizard with Hagrid's crinkled black eyes, beaming as he sat on top of Hagrid's shoulder. Hagrid was a good seven or eight feet tall, judging by the apple tree beside him, but his face was beardless, young, round, and smooth — he looked hardly older than eleven.

"Tha' was taken jus' after I got inter Hogwarts," Hagrid croaked. "Dad was dead chuffed… thought I migh' not be a wizard, see, 'cos me mum… well, anyway. 'Course, I never was great shakes at magic, really… but at least he never saw me expelled. Died, see, in me second year…

"Dumbledore was the one who stuck up for me after Dad went. Got me the gamekeeper job… trusts people, he does. Gives 'em second chances… tha's what sets him apar' from other heads, see. He'll accept anyone at Hogwarts, s'long as they've got the talent. Knows people can turn out okay even if their families weren'… well… all tha' respectable. But some don' understand that. There's some who'd always hold it against yeh… there's some who'd even pretend they just had big bones rather than stand up an' say — I am what I am, an' I'm not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed,' my ol' dad used ter say, 'there's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with.' An' he was right. I've bin an idiot. I'm not botherin' with _her_ no more, I promise yeh that. Big bones… I'll give her big bones."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another nervously; none of them wanted admit to Hagrid that Harry and Ron had overheard him talking to Madame Maxime, but Hagrid was still talking, apparently unaware that he had said anything odd.

"Yeh know wha', Harry?" he said, looking up from the photograph of his father, his eyes very bright, "When I firs' met you, you reminded me o' me a bit. Mum an' Dad gone, an' you was feelin' like yeh wouldn' fit in at Hogwarts, remember? Not sure yeh were really up to it… an' now look at yeh, Harry! School champion!"

He looked at Harry for a moment and then said, very seriously, "Yeh know what I'd love, Harry? I'd love yeh ter win, I really would. It'd show 'em all… yeh don' have ter be pureblood ter do it. Yeh don' have ter be ashamed of what yeh are. It'd show 'em Dumbledore's the one who's got it righ', lettin' anyone in as long as they can do magic. How you doin' with that egg, Harry?"

"Great," said Harry. "Really great."

Hagrid's miserable face broke into a wide, watery smile.

"Tha's my boy… you show 'em, Harry, you show 'em. Beat 'em all."

Lying to Hagrid wasn't quite like lying to anyone else and Alicia knew it.

"Well then," Alicia smiled and everyone looked at her before she suddenly slammed her hands down on the table, making the the cups rattle.

"Hagrid how dare you ignore us! Us! Of all the people you didn't answer your flippin door to! I'm absolutely insulted you'd think we'd think less of you! Don't you ever do that again, you had me worried sick!" Harry and Ron grabbed Alicia as she pointed at Hagrid's very surprised face, worried she'd maybe launch at the man in her frustration. "I mean seriously we didn't judge Harry for being with the Dursleys or Hermione for being muggle born, or Lupin being a werewolf! Or even me for lying about my identity or being an orphan! Why on earth would we care if you're half a giant?!"

The four all looked at her surprised as she stood looking angrily at Hagrid with her hands on her hips. Hagrid sniffed and smiled at her.

"Thanks Alicia, always were kind weren' yeh. Just like yeh mother." and Alicia smiled back.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24:

"I can't handle this." Harry whispered to Alicia in the common room.

"What?"

"The guilt, I keep telling people I'm close to figuring out the egg—"

"But you're not even near close." Alicia didn't look up from her charms homework "I could have told you that."

Harry ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Just got to the prefects bathroom for gods sake." Alicia hissed

"And do what?"

"Throw that damn egg at the water and hope it breaks open a clue." Alicia shrugged "I don't know, but it has to have something to do with water or Cedric wouldn't have told you to have a bath."

Alicia paused and then she grinned.

"I think I have an idea!" and she packed up all her things.

"Hang on, what about my egg?"

"Take it to the bath."

"When?"

"I don't know, at night? When baths are acceptable?" Alicia shrugged "Do it when you wont get disturbed, you're not meant to be in the prefects bathroom remember." she smirked as she piled up her books. "But I think I just got an idea as to what's in it. Just go, I'll tell you later." she grinned but Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her back into her seat.

"Do me favour, stop for a second and talk to me."

"But this could be important." Alicia whined

"It's not going anywhere." Harry assured. Alicia sighed and dumped her things back on the table. "I can't believe you almost pulled a Hermione on me." Alicia stuck her tongue out.

"I have to be careful, I can't just run out."

"Well you need you're bathroom essentials, the invisibility cloak because there is no way you're allowed to get caught, we've done that and it didn't end well, remember." Alicia reminded Harry of the time they were punished for being out of bed out of hours and roaming the school, their punishment having being going into the dark forest were the two confronted Voldemort as he shared his body with a previous defence against the dark arts teacher, Quirrell.

"And if you're still worried, we still have the Marauders map from the twins." she shrugged. The Marauders map was a map of the entire grounds of Hogwarts, including it's secret passageways and all of it's inhabitants, Peeves, the teachers, the ghosts, the students and Mrs Norris, Filch's cat. It had been created by Alicia and Harry's father, James Potter, along with his friends Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black, all of whom had signed the map with their nicknames, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. "We've done this too many times without getting caught for you to be worried. Remember last year when we went back in time, we didn't get seen by a single person."

"Except ourselves." Harry pointed out

"Doesn't count." Alicia waved the thought away. "We'll get you out of the common room the same way we did for the Dragons, have Ron, Hermione or I open the porthole from the other side. Worked perfectly last time." she shrugged

"You make this sound like a leisurely stroll." Harry muttered

"It is for us." Alicia smirked "Now can I go to the library and figure out what the screeching is?" she asked

"And how are you going to do that?"

"I have a theory. You're dear sister here happens to be quite smart at placing information together and I'm going to use that handy ability." she smirked and Harry rolled her eyes

"Who's sister?" Fred had appeared over the back of the couch the two were sharing

"Your's obviously." Alicia smirked as she grabbed her things and headed for the porthole.

"You going out after hours?" Fred asked and Alicia looked at him before turning to her watch.

She groaned.

"God dammit." she muttered annoyed. It was too late for her to leave the common room without getting in trouble.

"Maybe you should plan an escape for yourself." Harry grinned

"No I'll do it in the morning." Alicia sighed "Or between our last class and dinner." she slumped back down on the couch with a groan and was silent for a minute.

"Game of exploding snap Fred?" she randomly offered.

* * *

The next day, after dinner, Alicia went to the library while Ron and Harry timed his escape to the prefects bathroom. There, Alicia ran into Ginny, who was working on a potions essay.

"Snape's making us write about shrinking potions."

"Oh I remember that." Alicia said chuckling "Snape tested Nevilles on his toad when it came out wrong. It was orange instead of green." Ginny winced

"What happened?"

"Hermione helped him fix it and Snape docked points when the potion worked." Alicia shrugged "You know, typical Snape." and Ginny nodded

"So… hows Michael." Alicia asked grinning "Saw you sitting with him at the Ravenclaw table this morning.

"He's alright." Ginny nodded, pursing her lip slightly to which Alicia rose her eyebrows.

"What?" she asked

"Well…" Ginny admitted "I was kind of hoping he might help me, you know, get over Harry." she said carefully

"Well I guess it's always worth a try. Especially as Harry's blind and can't notice things like girl's real interest in him."

"Real?" Ginny questioned

"You know, you like Harry for him not because he's famous. Even if it might have started out that way." Alicia explained and Ginny nodded.

"I can't be hung on him forever so."

"Fair enough." Alicia nodded

"So what you doing?" Ginny asked her

"Research." Alicia remembered, looking around.

"On what?" Ginny wondered

"Can't tell you, not supposed to be doing it." Alicia shrugged

"There's a surprise." Ginny grinned and the older girl rolled her eyes before she turned and walked along the shelves in the library and pulled out a very heavy book labeled _Underwater sea creatures._ She then sat back down with Ginny, who glanced at the books with curiosity but did not ask about again as Alicia began to flick through the pages.

She sat for about an hour going through the book but didn't come across what she wanted. She knew what she was looking for, or at least the information she was looking for, and none of this fit.

"I know what I want! Just give me the bloody heading." she closed the book as Ginny glanced at her from her essay while Alicia moved to grab four more books in place of the one book. "They wouldn't take the books containing the information would they?" she muttered as she sat down.

The library emptied as Alicia worked, Ginny saying good night and wishing the girl luck before leaving as well. Alicia replied as she stayed and continued her research, but she only ended up back at the first book by about eleven o'clock. Madam Prince had left a few hours ago and Alicia was left alone.

"Thank god there's no more basilisks or this might be a stupid idea." Alicia's voice was below a whisper but still sounded much too loud. She knew she'd be in trouble if she got caught.

So Alicia wrote a letter to Madam Prince saying she'd borrowed a few books, writing down their titles and took them all back to the common room. It was empty when she arrived and Alicia sat on one of the chairs by the fire and continued to read one. She knew she was missing something.

* * *

Alicia was standing in a corridor of the Hogwarts castle. She looked around and realised she wasn't near the Gryffindor common room at all. She could have sworn she was in the common room reading a minute ago?

Alicia's hands clutched to something and she looked down to see the Marauders Map in her hands.

 _But Harry has the map?_ Alicia thought confused. That was when she notice the golden egg under her arm.

 _What? But…_

The Map and Egg were gone from Alicia's hands and she turned to see Harry beside her with the map to his nose and the egg under his arm.

Alicia looked around and saw they were standing outside the Prefects bathroom. Why on earth was she here with Harry? Better yet, why hadn't she noticed him?

 _What's he doing?_

Alicia peered over Harry's shoulder at the map before him, he was staring at the bottom left corner intently. It was Snape's office, but inside wasn't Snape, it was Bartemius Crouch!

"Mr Crouch?" Alicia questioned and Harry looked up stunned. Alicia wasn't sure if it was because he heard her or because of what he saw, the puzzled look that crossed his face could have been for either one of those things.

Alicia stared back at the dot as Harry did, it was moving around and around the room, pausing here and there. Alicia's eyes narrowed as she realised they were still standing here.

 _Don't do it…_ she knew what Harry was thinking. If it was her, she'd walk straight down there and figure out what the hell was going on, Mr Crouch was sick, unable to go to work in which he lived to do, how on earth… why on earth would he be at Hogwarts going through Snape's stuff?

And then Harry turned and walked down the stairs.

Alicia groaned and followed.

"This is stupid." Harry paused and turned around.

It was then that Alicia realised something, Harry was supposed to be wearing the invisibility cloak… how on earth could she see him?

 _It's a dream you dimwit._ her brain reminded her as she followed her brother.

Harry crept along the corridor below, Alicia hurrying along by his side as he pushed aside a tapestry about halfway along, and proceeded down a narrower staircase, a shortcut that would take him down two floors. He kept glancing down at the map, Alicia didn't blame him, Mr Crouch was a law loving, workaholic, yet he was here at Hogwarts sneaking around? It didn't seem at all correct. Why on earth would Mr Crouch need to do such a thing? And why did he need to steal Potion ingredients from Snape?

Harry suddenly disappeared from Alicia's side and there were several loud clunks like metal smashing into stone. Alicia winced and jumped at the sudden loud noise and looked down to see the golden egg bounding down the stairs, every single bang seeming louder than one before and it echoed through the school.

It got worse however, at the bottom of the stairs the egg came to a stop and burst open. Alicia wanted to cover her ears as the screeching and wailing sounded throughout the entire school, shattering the comfortable silence and probably awakening everyone.

Alicia didn't understand, why had Harry dropped it! She turned to see her brother had sunken into the trick step Neville always forgot to jump, he'd been so concerned for Crouch and why he was here Harry had completely forgotten about it.

"You've got to be fricken kidding me!" Alicia whisper shouted, the screaming egg however drowned her out. She then noticed the piece of parchment on the stairs, Harry had lost hold of the Marauders map as well!

 _Well why didn't the invisibility clock fall off too while he was at it._ For all Alicia knew it had but she walked down the stairs and reached for the parchment that was the map, only she couldn't touch it. Alicia looked at her hands confused and reached for the map again, her fingers just went though the stairs. She had to look at her feet touching the stairs to make sure they were whole, yet she still couldn't touch the Map.

 _What is going on?_ she questioned confused as she frustratedly tried to help her brother. When picking up the map didn't work she ran down the stairs, jumping the last three and tried to close the egg, but she couldn't touch that either.

And then something worse happened.

"PEEVES!"

It was the unmistakable hunting cry of Filch the caretaker. Alicia looked up as she heard his rapid, shuffling footsteps coming nearer and nearer, his wheezy voice raised in fury.

"What's this racket? Wake up the whole castle, will you?" Alicia felt frightened and she turned to run back up the stairs to where Harry was crouched, his leg thigh deep in the step as he stared at the egg waiting in fear. "I'll have you, Peeves, I'll have you, you'll… and what is this?"

Filch's footsteps halted; there was a clink of metal on metal and the wailing stopped — Filch had picked up the egg and closed it. Alicia watched, waiting for Filch to move the tapestry hiding them from view, expecting to see Peeves… and there would be no Peeves… but if he came up the stairs, he would spot the Marauder's Map… and Invisibility Cloak or not, the map would show "Harry Potter" standing exactly where he was.

"Egg?" Filch said quietly at the foot of the stairs. "My sweet!" — Mrs. Norris was obviously with him — "This is a Triwizard clue! This belongs to a school champion!"

 _Of course he noticed! And it won't be the prefect's egg now would it!?_ Alicia freaked out, what on earth was Harry going to do!?

"PEEVES!" Filch roared gleefully. "You've been stealing!"  
He ripped back the tapestry below, and Alicia saw his horrible, pouchy face and bulging, pale eyes staring up the dark and (to Filch) deserted staircase.

"Hiding, are you?" he said softly. "I'm coming to get you, Peeves… You've gone and stolen a Triwizard clue, Peeves… Dumbledore'll have you out of here for this, you filthy, pilfering poltergeist…"

Filch started to climb the stairs, his scrawny, dust-coloured cat at his heels. Mrs. Norris's lamp-like eyes, so very like her master's, were fixed directly upon Harry. Alicia was reminded in their first year when they wondered if Mrs Norris could see through the invisibility cloak or whether she just smelled Harry?

Alicia was looking around, trying to find something anything to get Filch away from here… but if she couldn't touch anything…

Filch was drawing nearer and nearer to Harry in his old flannel dressing gown, any second now, Filch was going to spot the map or walk right into him —

"Filch? What's going on?"

Alicia turned and felt all the blood drain from her face. It had gotten worse than she could even imagine! The only good thing that came was that Filch stopped climbing the stairs.

At the foot of the stairs stood the only person who could make Harry's situation worse: Snape. He was wearing a long grey nightshirt and he looked livid.

"It's Peeves, Professor," Filch whispered malevolently. "He threw this egg down the stairs."

Snape climbed up the stairs quickly and stopped beside Filch.

"Peeves?" said Snape softly, staring at the egg in Filch's hands. "But Peeves couldn't get into my office…"

"This egg was in your office, Professor?"

"Of course not," Snape snapped. "I heard banging and wailing —"

"Yes, Professor, that was the egg —"

"— I was coming to investigate —"

"— Peeves threw it, Professor —"

"— and when I passed my office, I saw that the torches were lit and a cupboard door was ajar! Somebody has been searching it!"

Someone was stealing from Snape? In the middle of the night?

 _That was bold of them…_ Alicia believed.

"But Peeves couldn't —"

"I know he couldn't, Filch!" Snape snapped again. "I seal my office with a spell none but a wizard could break!" Snape looked up the stairs, straight through Harry, and then down into the corridor below. "I want you to come and help me search for the intruder, Filch."

"I — yes, Professor — but —"

Filch looked yearningly up the stairs, right through Harry and Alicia, who could see that he was very reluctant to forgo the chance of cornering Peeves.

"The thing is, Professor," said Filch plaintively, "the headmaster will have to listen to me this time. Peeves has been stealing from a student, it might be my chance to get him thrown out of the castle once and for all —"

"Filch, I don't give a damn about that wretched poltergeist; it's my office that's —"

 _Clunk. Clunk. Clunk._

Alicia knew that sound… and she wasn't sure if she felt relieved or more worried.

Snape stopped talking very abruptly. He and Filch both looked down at the foot of the stairs as Mad-Eye Moody limped into sight. Moody was wearing his old traveling cloak over his nightshirt and leaning on his staff as usual.

"Pyjama party, is it?" he growled up the stairs.

"Professor Snape and I heard noises, Professor," said Filch at once. "Peeves the Poltergeist, throwing things around as usual — and then Professor Snape discovered that someone had broken into his off —"

"Shut up!" Snape hissed to Filch.

And then Alicia remembered something terrible, Moody's eye could see through invisibility cloaks. Already she had noticed no one saw her, and she couldn't touch anything either, she was merely a ghost. Harry on the other hand, didn't seem to be, and Moody would be able to see him straight and as plane as Alicia could.

He was doomed.

Moody's lopsided gash of a mouth opened in surprise as he, like Alicia, saw the whole scene: Snape in his nightshirt, Filch clutching the egg, and he, Harry, trapped in the stairs behind them. For a few seconds, he and Harry stared straight into each other's eyes. Then Moody closed his mouth and turned his blue eye upon Snape again.

"Did I hear that correctly, Snape?" he asked slowly. "Someone broke into your office?"

"It is unimportant," said Snape coldly.

"On the contrary," growled Moody, "it is very important. Who'd want to break into your office?"

"A student, I daresay," said Snape. Harry could see a vein flickering horribly on Snape's greasy temple. "It has happened before. Potion ingredients have gone missing from my private store cupboard… students attempting illicit mixtures, no doubt…"

"Reckon they were after potion ingredients, eh?" said Moody. "Not hiding anything else in your office, are you?"

The edge of Snape's sallow face turn a nasty brick colour, the vein in his temple pulsing more rapidly.

"You know I'm hiding nothing, Moody," he said in a soft and dangerous voice, "as you've searched my office pretty thoroughly yourself."

Moody's face twisted into a smile.

"Auror's privilege, Snape. Dumbledore told me to keep an eye —"

"Dumbledore happens to trust me," said Snape through clenched teeth. "I refuse to believe that he gave you orders to search my office!"

"'Course Dumbledore trusts you," growled Moody. "He's a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me — I say there are spots that don't come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, d'you know what I mean?"

Snape suddenly did something very strange. He seized his left forearm convulsively with his right hand, as though something on it had hurt him.

Moody laughed.

"Get back to bed, Snape."

"You don't have the authority to send me anywhere!" Snape hissed, letting go of his arm as though angry with himself. "I have as much right to prowl this school after dark as you do!"

"Prowl away," said Moody, but his voice was full of menace. "I look forward to meeting you in a dark corridor some time…You've dropped something, by the way…"

Moody pointed at the Marauder's Map and Alicia began to freak, they couldn't loose that! It was something else from their dad! It was still lying on the staircase six steps below Harry. As Snape and Filch both turned to look at it, Harry threw caution to the winds; he raised his arms under the cloak and waved furiously at Moody to attract his attention, mouthing "It's mine! _Mine_!"

Snape had reached out for it, a horrible expression of dawning comprehension on his face —

" _Accio Parchment_!"

The map flew up into the air, slipped through Snape's out-stretched fingers, and soared down the stairs into Moody's hand.

"My mistake," Moody said calmly. "It's mine — must've dropped it earlier —"

Alicia didn't know whether to feel better about this or not.

But Snape's black eyes were darting from the egg in Filch's arms to the map in Moody's hand, and Alicia waited for him to put two and two together, as only Snape could…

"Potter," he said quietly.

"What's that?" said Moody calmly, folding up the map and pocketing it.

"Potter!" Snape snarled, and he actually turned his head and stared right at the place where Harry was, as though he could suddenly see him. "Evans too no doubt!" he breathed and Alicia rolled her eyes in annoyance, she always came second to Harry… well Snape usually ignored her so this must have been a step up.

"That egg is Potter's egg. That piece of parchment belongs to Potter. I have seen it before, I recognise it! Potter is here! Potter, in his Invisibility Cloak!"

Snape stretched out his hands like a blind man and began to move up the stairs; it was almost like his over-large nostrils were dilating, trying to sniff Harry out — trapped, Harry leaned backward, trying to avoid Snape's fingertips, but any moment now —

"There's nothing there, Snape!" barked Moody, "but I'll be happy to tell the headmaster how quickly your mind jumped to Harry Potter!"

"Meaning what?" Snape turned again to look at Moody, his hands still outstretched, inches from Harry's chest.

"Meaning that Dumbledore's very interested to know who's got it in for that boy!" said Moody, limping nearer still to the foot of the stairs. "And so am I, Snape… very interested…" The torchlight flickered across his mangled face, so that the scars, and the chunk missing from his nose, looked deeper and darker than ever.

Snape was looking down at Moody and, or a moment, nobody moved or said anything. Then Snape slowly lowered his hands.

"I merely thought," said Snape, in a voice of forced calm, "that if Potter was wandering around after hours again… it's an unfortunate habit of his… he should be stopped. For — for his own safety."

"Ah, I see," said Moody softly. "Got Potter's best interests at heart, have you?"

It was weird to think of Snape having such a thing… after all, Snape hated Harry before he even met him all because he resembled the twins' father.

There was a pause. Snape and Moody were still staring at each other. Mrs. Norris gave a loud meow, still peering around Filch's legs, looking for the source of Harry's bubble-bath smell.

"I think I will go back to bed," Snape said curtly.

"Best idea you've had all night," said Moody. "Now, Filch, if you'll just give me that egg —"

"No!" said Filch, clutching the egg as though it were his first-born son. "Professor Moody, this is evidence of Peeves' treachery!"

"It's the property of the champion he stole it from," said Moody. "Hand it over, now."  
Snape swept downstairs and passed Moody without another word. Filch made a chirruping noise to Mrs. Norris, who stared blankly at Harry for a few more seconds before turning and following her master. Still breathing very fast, Harry heard Snape walking away down the corridor; Filch handed Moody the egg and disappeared from view too, muttering to Mrs. Norris. "Never mind, my sweet… we'll see Dumbledore in the morning… tell him what Peeves was up to…"

A door slammed.

Alicia realised a heavy sigh and slumped onto the step behind Harry and the bad step. Harry was left staring down at Moody, who placed his staff on the bottommost stair and started to climb laboriously toward him, a dull _clunk_ on every other step.

"Close shave, Potter," he muttered.

"Yeah… I — er… thanks," said Harry weakly.

"What is this thing?" said Moody, drawing the Marauders Map out of his pocket and unfolding it.

"Don't answer!" Alicia said

"Map of Hogwarts," said Harry, Alicia hit herself in the forehead.

"Merlin's beard," Moody whispered, staring at the map, his magical eye going haywire. "This… this is some map, Potter!"

"Yeah, it's… quite useful," Harry said. "Er — Professor Moody, d'you think you could help me — ?"

"What? Oh! Yes… yes, of course…"

"I can't believe you fricken told him the truth!" Alicia said hitting her head with her knuckles for every word.

Moody took hold of Harry's arms and pulled; Harry's leg came free of the trick step, and he climbed onto the one above it next to Alicia. Moody was still gazing at the map.

"Potter…" he said slowly, "you didn't happen, by any chance, to see who broke into Snape's office, did you? On this map, I mean?"

Alicia looked at Moody surprised, as if that was a concern to him… then again he was an ex-Auror.

"Er… yeah, I did…" Harry admitted.

"Don't tell him who!" for some reason Alicia didn't trust Moody, his convenient timing and magical eye worried her all of a sudden, like being in the weird state made her more aware of that around her, and Moody was giving her the creeps.

"It was Mr. Crouch." Harry confessed

Moody's magical eye whizzed over the entire surface of the map. He looked suddenly alarmed. This wasn't what Alicia expected, maybe more like confusion or disagreement, not alarm. Alarm was like when someone got caught when they had put every principle in place to ensure they didn't, a break in a foolproof plan.

"Crouch?" he said. "You're — you're sure, Potter?"

"Positive," said Harry.

"Well, he's not here anymore," said Moody, his eye still whizzing over the map. "Crouch… that's very — very interesting…"

It was like Moody was nervous… He said nothing for almost a minute, still staring at the map.

And then Harry's curiosity, the thing that got him into this mess in the first place, got the better of him and he opened his mouth again.

"Er… Professor Moody… why d'you reckon Mr. Crouch wanted to look around Snape's office?"

Moody's magical eye left the map and fixed, quivering, upon Harry. It was a penetrating glare, it was almost like Moody was sizing Harry up, wondering whether to answer or not, or how much to tell him.

"Put it this way, Potter," Moody muttered finally, "they say old Mad-Eye's obsessed with catching Dark wizards… but I'm nothing — _nothing_ — compared to Barty Crouch."

Alicia looked at Moody confused, it was like he was admiring the man… was Moody even capable of that? And since when did people admit their obsessions then they're as bad as what Mad-Eye did?

Something was wrong and Alicia became a lot more cautious suddenly.

Moody continued to stare at the map.

"Professor Moody?" he said again. "D'you think… could this have anything to do with… maybe Mr. Crouch thinks there's something going on…"

"Like what?" said Moody sharply, almost startled by the question.

"I don't know," Harry muttered, "odd stuff's been happening lately, hasn't it? It's been in the _Daily Prophet…_ the Dark Mark at the World Cup, and the Death Eaters and everything…"

Both of Moody's mismatched eyes widened.

"You're a sharp boy, Potter," he said. His magical eye roved back to the Marauder's Map. "Crouch could be thinking along those lines," he said slowly. "Very possible… there have been some funny rumours flying around lately — helped along by Rita Skeeter, of course. It's making a lot of people nervous, I reckon." A grim smile twisted his lopsided mouth. "Oh if there's one thing I hate," he muttered, more to himself than to Harry, and his magical eye was fixed on the left-hand corner of the map, "it's a Death Eater who walked free…"

Harry and Alicia both stared at him. Could Moody possibly mean what they thought he meant?

"And now I want to ask _you_ a question, Potter," said Moody in a more businesslike tone.

 _Oh no…_ was this when Harry got into trouble or when Moody asked about the origins of the map. No way was Harry to rat out their dad and his friends nor was he to tell him about Fred and George taking it from Filch. She glared at her brother, daring him to speak even though he couldn't see her.

Despite her invisibility, Harry glanced around as though feeling her glare.

"Can I borrow this?"

"Oh!" said Harry.

"No!" Alicia snapped louder then she had so far and Harry himself had turned around in surprise.

"Yeah, okay."

"You what!?" Alicia complained looking at Harry angrily.

"Good boy," growled Moody. "I can make good use of this… this might be _exactly_ what I've been looking for… Right, bed, Potter, come on, now…"

They climbed to the top of the stairs together, Moody still examining the map as though it was a treasure the like of which he had never seen before. They walked in silence to the door of Moody's office, where he stopped and looked up at Harry.

"You ever thought of a career as an Auror, Potter?"

"No," said Harry, taken aback.

"You want to consider it," said Moody, nodding and looking at Harry thoughtfully. "Yes, indeed… and incidentally… I'm guessing you weren't just taking that egg for a walk tonight?"

"Er — no," said Harry, grinning. "I've been working out the clue."

Moody winked at him, his magical eye going haywire again.

"Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas, Potter… See you in the morning…"

He went back into his office, staring down at the Marauder's Map again, and closed the door behind him.

Alicia jumped awake and the book she'd been reading fell to the floor with a thud. Alicia looked around, she was back in the common room, where she'd been before the incident on the staircase.

"A dream…?" she whispered. She'd been dreaming, she'd never left the common room. "A dream…" Alicia repeated confused, it didn't feel like a dream, in fact it seemed exactly like something that would happen to Harry, especially when he was alone.

Alicia shook her head. It was a dream. Simple as that. She bent down and picked up the book from the floor, turning it over before she stopped and stared at the page.

"Voices cannot be heard above water and sound like whaling and screeching," she muttered and looked at the picture on the page. "Mermaids…?" Alicia muttered.

And it clicked.

"Cedric told Harry to take the egg to the bath, to the water. Cedric wanted Harry to put the egg under water." Alicia looked back at the page

"Mermaids's voices cannot be understood above water! It's a mermaids voice!" She grinned beaming and jumping up. She then remembered the room was empty and mentally hit herself for being silly.

Just then the porthole to the common room opened and Alicia stared at it confused. It closed and there was silence, nothing entered, but Alicia knew that just because she couldn't see it, doesn't mean there was nothing at all.

"Harry?" The footsteps stopped

"Alicia…" Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off and looked at Alicia confused. Alicia however sat on the couch looking at him surprised. He was supposed to be sleeping in his dorm? Why on earth was he out at this time…

Alicia reverted back to her dream.

 _No…_ she muttered

"Were you just…" she pointed to the porthole and Harry sighed before coming to sit beside her.

"Feel my heart." Harry placed her hand on his chest, his heart was pounding so hard Alicia felt she was supposed to be able to hear it.

"What happened?" she was scared to ask, fearing she already knew the answer but had to anyway.

"I went and found out the clue of the egg." He explained and Alicia glanced at her books

"Mermaids right?" Harry looked surprised and Alicia pointed to the open page on the table beside them, still open to the page of Mermaids. "I found out too, what did it say?"

"I have to retrieve something that's going to be taken from me… I think… I have an hour."

"So our next task lies in finding something that lets you breath underwater for an hour." Alicia sighed with a nod "Easy." she mumbled "But that doesn't explain your erratic heart?"

"Well when I left the bathroom… I looked at the map to make sure it was safe… but…" Harry muttered

"But…" Alicia encouraged

"I saw Mr Crouch in Snape's office…" Harry admitted and Alicia looked at him surprised.

 _But how… it was a dream! How could it have been real?!_

"So I went to take a look but I ended up getting stuck in the trick stair, the egg bounced down the stairs and opened, screaming through the silent halls and I dropped the map. Filch naturally heard it and Snape turned up." he rolled his eyes "Neither of them saw the map until Moody turned up and pointed it out."

"Moody can see through the cloak!" Alicia said worried and Harry nodded

"Snape saw the egg and the map and immediately knew it was me." Harry rolled his eyes "If it wasn't for Moody I'd probably be expelled right now. He managed to get them away, keep the map and grab the egg before helping me out of the stair."

"You — I — Are you —!" Harry bit his lip as Alicia took a deep breath. She just realised that if what she had dreamt actually happened then…

"You said Moody saw the map?" she asked slowly. Harry bit his lip

"Please, please, please, _please_ tell me he didn't ask about it! Or even worse confiscate it?!" she demanded

"He didn't confiscate it…" Harry began and Alicia waited "He borrowed it." She gapped at him

"You let him keep the map!?" she exploded

"He did me a favour and got me out of a hard spot." Harry rubbed the back of his neck and Alicia clenched her fists before taking a deep breath.

"There was something else…" Harry confessed and Alicia looked at him confused, trying to remember what else bad news he could remind her of. "I swear I heard something, amongst all the… panic…" She raised an eyebrow "I swear I heard your voice."

"Me?" Alicia questioned. She thought and remembered how Harry had turned every time she spoke. "Me…" she muttered again, if it was a dream how on earth would he have heard her?

Harry then yawned.

"By the way, why are you up?"

"Oh… uh, I was looking for the screeching and I fell asleep. I woke up just before you arrived." Alicia admitted "I had a… weird dream." she muttered. Harry didn't make much of her words as he yawned again.

"Alright, well I'm going to bed."

"'Kay…" Alicia nodded and she watched as her brother got up and moved to the staircase.

"You should too Alicia." he called back

"Yeah. Yeah I will." she muttered as he disappeared. She picked her books back up and stacked them on the table before getting to her feet, but she didn't move.

"Why did that happen?" she whispered, falling back into her seat "How did that happen…?" How Alicia could be beside Harry out by the prefects' bathroom and still be physically within the common room she had no idea, the fact that Harry had heard her disembodied voice creeped her out also.

"Sirius!" she suddenly gasped. "I'll ask him!" and Alicia grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill before writing down what happened. She folded it up and carried all her things back to the dormitory before climbing into bed. She'd send it to him first thing in the morning.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25:

Alicia was up early again the next morning, despite having very little sleep. She got dressed, grabbed her letter and moved off to the Owlery through the silent corridors. Noel fluttered down the second she saw her and Alicia stroked her owl.

"Stuff what Sirius said, we haven't sent one of you two for a few months." she muttered as she tied on the letter "Besides this is of the utmost importance and cannot be trusted to any ol' owl." Noel puffed up her chest and Alicia smiled as she carried her to the window.

"This needs to be delivered to Sirius as quickly as possible. It's urgent." she whispered to the bird "Be careful, and don't get caught." she smiled. The owl nibbled her ear and sawed out the window and out of sight.

"Please hurry." she muttered.

Alicia made her way down to the breakfast hall and began to eat her breakfast. Harry, Hermione and Ron all eventually joined her before they all made their way to charms, their first class for the day. This was when Ron asked how Harry's night went.

Hermione was appalled to hear Harry had gone and worked out the egg, mostly because she believed he already had.

"You said you'd already worked out that egg clue!" said Hermione indignantly.  
"Keep your voice down!" said Harry crossly. "I just need to — sort of fine-tune it, all right?"

Professor Flickwick was getting the class to work on the opposite to the summoning charms, the banishing charm. He had given everyone a stack of pillows in which to banish so that no one got hurt. Unfortunately for the professor, Neville still managed to banish him to the other side of the room.

Alicia, having perfected this spell accidentally in her first year against a troll, had already banished five pillows into the basket across the room. She also wasn't paying attention to Harry much as it continued to remind her of her bizarre dream that turned out to not be a dream at all.

"Just forget the egg for a minute, all right?" Harry hissed as Professor Flitwick went whizzing resignedly past them, landing on top of a large cabinet. "I'm trying to tell you about Snape and Moody…"

This class was an ideal cover for a private conversation, as everyone was having far too much fun to pay them any attention.

"Snape said Moody's searched his office as well?" Ron whispered, his eyes alight with interest as he Banished a cushion with a sweep of his wand (it soared into the air and knocked Parvati's hat off). "What… d'you reckon Moody's here to keep an eye on Snape as well as Karkaroff?"

"Well, I dunno if that's what Dumbledore asked him to do, but he's definitely doing it," said Harry, waving his wand without paying much attention, so that his cushion did an odd sort of belly flop off the desk. "Moody said Dumbledore only lets Snape stay here because he's giving him a second chance or something…"

"What?" said Ron, his eyes widening, his next cushion spinning high into the air, ricocheting off the chandelier, and dropping heavily onto Flitwick's desk. "Harry… maybe Moody thinks _Snape_ put your name in the Goblet of Fire!"

"Oh Ron," said Hermione, shaking her head sceptically, "we thought Snape was trying to kill Harry before, and it turned out he was saving Harry's life, remember?"

"We'd look stupid if we made that mistake again." Alicia muttered as both she and Hermione banished a cushion and they flew across the room and landed in the box they were all supposed to be aiming at.

"I don't care what Moody says," Hermione went on. "Dumbledore's not stupid. He was right to trust Hagrid and Professor Lupin, even though loads of people wouldn't have given them jobs, so why shouldn't he be right about Snape, even if Snape is a bit —"

"— evil," said Ron promptly.

"He's just lousy and rude." Alicia corrected "Like he wants the world to hate him."

"Come on, why are all these Dark wizard catchers searching his office, then?"

"Why has Mr. Crouch been pretending to be ill?" said Hermione, ignoring Ron. "It's a bit funny, isn't it, that he can't manage to come to the Yule Ball, but he can get up here in the middle of the night when he wants to?"

"You just don't like Crouch because of that elf, Winky," said Ron, sending a cushion soaring into the window.

" _You_ just want to think Snape's up to something," said Hermione, sending her cushion zooming neatly into the box.

"I just want to know what Snape did with his first chance, if he's on his second one," said Harry grimly, and his cushion, to his very great surprise, flew straight across the room and landed neatly on top of Hermione's.

"You know what you need to do?" Alicia said, casually flicking her wand and sending every last of her pillows into the box together "Write to Padfoot." she gave Harry a knowing look and Hermione immediately began to tell Harry she was right and how Sirius would want to know.

At the end of the day that's what Harry did, he wrote a letter and, accompanied by Alicia, he went to the Owlery.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, Alicia looked at him

"Yeah?"

"You've been awfully quiet all day." he admitted

"That's unusual?" Harry raised an eyebrow and Alicia rolled her eyes "Alright I'm sorry, just, thinking."

"About what?"

"What you saw last night." she shrugged

"Even I'm not that deep in thought about it…?" Harry said suspiciously

"My brain processes information better." Alicia smirked, this time Harry rolled his eyes.

"Something's bugging you."

"This whole year is bugging me." Alicia admitted "Sirius said things are happening. The death eaters show up at the cup as well as the dark mark. Your name comes out of the goblet. Mr Crouch is acting weird and snooping around Snape's office, Mad-eye for some strange reason doesn't think he's an equal to Mr Crouch as if he worships the man which is Percy's job…" Alicia explained "Then there was our dream, remember that, we both had the same one!" she took a deep breath

"Something is wrong and I'm sick of not being able to figure out what." Harry sighed and Alicia took a deep breath.

"Sorry." she muttered

"Don't apologise, I think if you're worried abut something then we all should." he pursed his lips and Alicia raised an eyebrow

"Why?"

"Because you do so well at discovering things." Harry shrugged "Like with the mermaids. Or Sirius last year." Alicia sighed

"My problem is I discover it too late." she muttered "What if this time we aren't as lucky?" Harry sighed.

"Well, let's figure out how to make me breath under water for an hour for the next task before that."

"That's the kind of thinking that'll get us in trouble." Alicia muttered.

Ron and Hermione agreed however, Ron's idea was to use the summoning charm again, Harry had explained about Aqua-Lungs, and Ron couldn't see why Harry shouldn't Summon one from the nearest Muggle town. Hermione squashed this plan by pointing out that, in the unlikely event that Harry managed to learn how to operate an Aqua-Lung within the set limit of an hour, he was sure to be disqualified for breaking the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy — it was too much to hope that no Muggles would spot an Aqua-Lung zooming across the countryside to Hogwarts.

"Plus there'll be some easier wizarding trick or they wouldn't have set the task, I mean there has to at least be a way to complete them, even if it is hard." Alicia reminded them.

"Of course, the ideal solution would be for you to Transfigure yourself into a submarine or something," Hermione said. "If only we'd done human Transfiguration already! But I don't think we start that until sixth year, and it can go badly wrong if you don't know what you're doing…"

"Even I wouldn't bother trying that yet." Alicia admitted

"Yeah, I don't fancy walking around with a periscope sticking out of my head," said Harry. "I s'pose I could always attack someone in front of Moody; he might do it for me…"

"I don't think he'd let you choose what you wanted to be turned into, though," said Hermione seriously. "No, I think your best chance is some sort of charm."

"And where will we find that?" Alicia asked with a slight sigh, she loved to read, but she would prefer to do it outside then stuck in the library, which is exactly where they went, burying themselves within dusty old volumes, looking for some spell that might enable them to survive without oxygen. However, though Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione searched through their lunchtimes, evenings, and whole weekends — though Harry asked Professor McGonagall for a note of permission to use the Restricted Section, and even asked the irritable, vulture-like librarian, Madam Pince, for help — they found nothing whatsoever that would enable Harry to spend an hour underwater and live to tell the tale.

"We're running out of time!" Alicia was beginning to freak out again, why did they run out of so much time with these tasks, they'd discovered the clue with about four weeks, an entire month till the task and suddenly they were out of it.

"I swear they keep stealing all the books helpful just to make it hard!" Alicia complained as they scanned the books.

"Calm down we'll find something." Hermione assured, Alicia however could hear the worry within her voice too.

Two days before the tournament Alicia and Harry both received an owl. Harry ripped Sirius' reply from the owl and opened it with Hermione and Alicia reading over his shoulders, it was the shortest letter Sirius had every written.

 _Send date of next Hogsmeade weekend by return owl._

Harry turned the parchment over and looked at the back, hoping to see something else, but it was blank.

"Weekend after next," whispered Hermione. "Here — take my quill and send this owl back straight away."

Harry scribbled the dates down on the back of Sirius's letter, tied it onto the brown owl's leg, and watched it take flight again.

"Let me guess, forgot about the egg?" Alicia asked. Harry sighed before looking at her confused as she put her own letter in her robes, still sealed shut.

"What did you get?" he asked

"Oh, nothing important." Alicia shrugged before turning to her breakfast. She still hadn't told even Harry about her dream, and until she had some idea as to it's meaning, it was going to stay that way. Besides, Harry had enough to worry about already.

Ron, Hermione and Harry all shared a suspicious look.

"What's he want to know about the next Hogsmeade weekend for?" said Ron.

"Dunno," said Harry dully. The momentary happiness had obviously died. "Come on… Care of Magical Creatures."

"Oh no." Alicia muttered and the three looked at her "I think I have a terrible hunch as to why he wants to know." she muttered as they got up and moved to the entrance hall.

"Why?" Harry asked

"When's the only time he'd be able to see us?" Alicia asked and Harry paled as he stopped dead in his tracks. Hermione and Ron looked after Alicia shocked, but also saw the relevance between Sirius' situation and comforting Harry.

Whether Hagrid was trying to make up for the Blast-Ended Skrewts, or because there were now only two skrewts left, or because he was trying to prove he could do anything that Professor Grubbly-Plank could, they didn't know, but Hagrid had been continuing her lessons on unicorns ever since he'd returned to work. It turned out that Hagrid knew quite as much about unicorns as he did about monsters, though it was clear that he found their lack of poisonous fangs disappointing.

Today he had managed to capture two unicorn foals. Unlike full-grown unicorns, they were pure gold. Parvati and Lavender went into transports of delight at the sight of them, and even Pansy Parkinson had to work hard to conceal how much she liked them.

"Easier ter spot than the adults," Hagrid told the class. "They turn silver when they're abou' two years old, an' they grow horns at aroun' four. Don' go pure white till they're full grown, 'round about seven. They're a bit more trustin' when they're babies… don' mind boys so much… C'mon, move in a bit, yeh can pat 'em if yeh want… give 'em a few o' these sugar lumps…

"You okay, Harry?" Hagrid muttered, moving aside slightly, while most of the others swarmed around the baby unicorns.

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Jus' nervous, eh?" said Hagrid.

"Bit," said Harry.

"Harry," said Hagrid, clapping a massive hand on his shoulder, so that Harry's knees buckled under its weight, "I'd've bin worried before I saw yeh take on tha' Horntail, but I know now yeh can do anythin' yeh set yer mind ter. I'm not worried at all. Yeh're goin' ter be fine. Got yer clue worked out, haven' yeh?"

Harry nodded, and Alicia frowned.

"Yeh're goin' ter win," Hagrid growled, patting Harry's shoulder again, so that Harry actually felt himself sink a couple of inches into the soft ground. "I know it. I can feel it. _Yeh're goin' ter win, Harry._ "

"You know, no pressure." Alicia muttered to her twin before they joined the group to pat the unicorns.

* * *

The four of them migrated to the library yet again on the final afternoon before the task. Harry was shitting bricks and Alicia looked bored as they looked through the books, almost as though she had lost the hope.

"I don't reckon it can be done," said Ron's voice flatly from the other side of the table. "There's nothing. _Nothing._ Closest was that thing to dry up puddles and ponds, that Drought Charm, but that was nowhere near powerful enough to drain the lake."

"There must be something," Hermione muttered, moving a candle closer to her. Her eyes were so tired she was poring over the tiny print of _Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes_ with her nose about an inch from the page. "They'd never have set a task that was undoable."

"For seventh years." Alicia added

"They have," said Ron. "Harry, just go down to the lake tomorrow, right, stick your head in, yell at the merpeople to give back whatever they've nicked, and see if they chuck it out. Best you can do, mate."

"There's a way of doing it!" Hermione said crossly. "There just has to be!"

She seemed to be taking the library's lack of useful information on the subject as a personal insult; it had never failed her before.

"I know what I should have done," said Harry, resting, face-down, on _Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts._ "I should've learned to be an Animagus like Sirius."

An Animagus was a wizard who could transform into an animal.

"Yeah, you could've turned into a goldfish any time you wanted!" said Ron.

"Or a frog," yawned Harry. He was exhausted.

"It takes years to become an Animagus, and then you have to register yourself and everything," said Hermione vaguely, now squinting down the index of _Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions._ "Professor McGonagall told us, remember… you've got to register yourself with the Improper Use of Magic Office… what animal you become, and your markings, so you can't abuse it…"

"You don't have to register." Alicia muttered and Hermione gave her a disapproving look which she ignored as she turned another page, her eyes scanning the words.

"Hermione, I was joking," said Harry wearily. "I know I haven't got a chance of turning into a frog by tomorrow morning…"

"Oh this is no use," Hermione said, snapping shut _Weird Wizarding Dilemmas._ "Who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets?"

"I wouldn't mind," said Fred Weasley's voice. "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?"

Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione looked up. Fred and George had just emerged from behind some bookshelves.

"What're you two doing here?" Ron asked.

"Looking for you lot," said George. "McGonagall wants you, Alicia. And you, Hermione."

"Why?" said Hermione, looking surprised.  
"Dunno… she was looking a bit grim, though," said Fred. "We're supposed to take you down to her office," said George. Alicia and Hermione stared at Ron and Harry, confused.

"How are we supposed to find something without you two?" Ron questioned. Alicia shrugged but Hermione looked determined.

"We'll meet you back in the common room," Hermione told Harry as she got up to go with Alicia — both of them looked very anxious. "Bring as many of these books as you can, okay?"

"Right," said Harry uneasily as Ron nodded.

"Do you think we're in trouble?" Alicia wondered

"I thought they'd be more concerned with the tournament, I mean they have to take what means the most to each of the champions, not worry about punishing us for helping Harry." Hermione rambled but Alicia gasped

"That's what it's about!" and Hermione looked at her confused "We're not in trouble, we're the treasures."

"Who's treasures?" Hermione asked

"We've taken what you'll sorely miss, an hour long you'll have to look, and to recover what we took. But past an hour, the prospects black, too late, it's gone, it wont come back." Alicia recited, but Hermione still looked confused.

Alicia sighed.

"They're gonna bewitch us and put us at the bottom of the lake for the champions to find." she said simply and Hermione gasped.

"But, why us two?" she wondered

"Well I'm guessing I'm for Harry to find, and after the dance the teachers probably decided on you for Krum." Alicia nudged the bushy haired girl who blushed "I mean he hasn't shown anyone else enough attention to be worth it."

"They can't put us at the bottom of the lake for that long?" Hermione thought

"Why not? Bet Dumbledore has a charm that'll put us in a deep protective sleep. I read about one last year."

"How are we meant to help Harry then?" Hermione worried

"He's still got Ron and he has all those books. I'm sure they'll find something." Alicia assured "Especially if we don't come back, they might realise it too."

"They're not as good as you are at piecing information remember."

"But they're not stupid." Alicia rolled her eyes as the two approached McGonagall's office and knocked.

"Come in,"

"Ah, Miss Evans, Miss Granger." Dumbledore, McGonagall and Karkaroff were all within the office, but so was Cho.

"Hey Cho." Alicia grinned

"Hey." she smiled, she looked confused.

The door opened again and Maxime walked in with a small girl, no more than eight years old, with shining silver hair. She must have been Fleur's sister.

"I'm sure you're wondering what this is about," McGonagall began

Alicia opened her mouth but Hermione nudged her, reminding her that she wasn't supposed to know about the eggs clue.

"The next task, requires something to be stolen from the champions in which they have to retrieve." Dumbledore explained "These treasures are things the champions will miss."

"And we've been chosen?" Alicia staged her statement as a questions and the teachers nodded.

"Now, we're going to place you under and enchantment which will put you into a deep sleep." Dumbledore explained "However you will awake the second you arrive back above the lake's surface."

"And we're just gonna be left under the water for the next 12 hours or something?" Alicia asked, Cho and Hermione looked at Dumbledore also worried about this, Fleur's sister must have already been completely informed.

"You will be guarded by the mermaids of the lake."

"Mermaids…" Cho muttered. Alicia didn't feel any better about this surprisingly.

"You will be perfectly safe." Alicia looked at Hermione and Cho on either side of her before the three of them nodded.

Dumbledore raised his wand and the Cho was put under first, McGonagall caught her before she collapsed and she was placed in one of the chairs as Dumbledore moved to Alicia. He smiled at her before muttering under his breath.

Alicia felt her mind cloud over and drowsiness catch her off guard. Before she knew it her eyes were fluttering shut and her mind went blank as she fell into the darkness of her own consciousness.

* * *

Alicia was confused, she was sure Dumbledore was supposed to have knocked her out and made her sleep for the next 12 hours at least, over night and during the task which was to end at 10. And yet, here she was, swimming through the waters.

Why was she in the water?

 _Dumbledore put you here for the mermaids to guard and Harry to find_. A voice in her head reminded her

 _Then why am I swimming?_ she questioned.

Her hands were out in front of her all of a sudden, pushing the water on either side of her as she propelled herself forwards. Only her hands weren't her hands, they were green and ghastly… and webbed?

 _Why are my hands webbed? And why am I swimming?_ she didn't understand.

And then she was hovering, not floating, not swimming, but hovering in the water, like a ghost.

 _Ghost…_ Alicia turned and saw Harry swimming beside her. Actually he was swimming away from her and Alicia turned to follow, but she couldn't keep up. Harry's feet were webbed, just like his hands and he was shooting through the water.

 _This is what happened a few weeks ago…_ Alicia remembered when Harry had figured out the clue of the egg, and almost got caught by Snape and Filch, Moody had taken the Marauders Map.

She looked at her hands surprised, they were the strange faded ghostly appearance they had been then too.

 _Is this supposed to be some out of body experience?_ Alicia questioned. _Or is it to do with our connection…_ she didn't know but she saw Harry and decided she could worry about it later.

 _If only I hadn't forgotten about Sirius' letter!_ It had been on her bedside table since she'd gotten it, unopened. She was scared as to the contents it contained, telling her this had nothing to do with her and Harry's connection and that she needed to get it checked out immediately.

Alicia pushed through the water after her twin, getting irritated as to the water.

 _I'm not really here so the water shouldn't effect me._ and she pushed forwards as Harry came to a stop to look around. Instantly as she reached him Alicia placed a hand on his shoulder so that he wouldn't swim off on her again.

Harry's hand contracted to hers and he turned to try and see what was touching him. Alicia's eyes widened and she squeezed his shoulder. Harry stared at her invisible hand with wide-eyes.

"Well don't stop." she said, surprisingly her voice was clear and bubbles didn't erupt. She thought seeing as the water slowed her movements that it's stop her words too, but that didn't seem the case.

Harry placed his hand on Alicia's and looked behind him.

"Well, come on." she encouraged and she pushed his shoulder forwards without releasing him, Harry moved.

He seemed to get the gist, despite his obvious confusion. He took a deep breath and held out his hand, Alicia eyed it before she released his shoulder and took his hand in hers.

"Let's find where they've hidden me shall we." she decided

"Alright." Bubbles came out of Harry's mouth and Alicia chuckled before he was dragging her threw the water and down to the depths of the lake.

Silence surrounded them as they soared over a strange, dark, foggy landscape. They could only see ten feet around them, so that as Harry sped through the water new scenes seemed to loom suddenly out of the oncoming darkness: forests of rippling, tangled black weed, wide plains of mud littered with dull, glimmering stones.

Alicia continued to look around as they swam deeper and deeper, out toward the middle of the lake, she wondered what would happen when they found them, would she see herself floating there looking asleep? Or would she suddenly vanish before hand? She had no clue how this thing worked, or why it seemed to occur when ever she was asleep and Harry was out getting into trouble. Could it be that his adrenaline somehow called her out? Or did he have a wish for her to be there?

In order to find this out, she'd have to confide in him on this… something she wasn't sure about yet.

Small fish flickered past them like silver darts, shapes loomed through the darkness, occasionally looking like something large moving until they got close. There was no sign of any of the other champions, merpeople, Alicia, Hermione — nor, thankfully, the giant squid.

Light green weed stretched ahead of them as far as they could see, two feet deep, like a meadow of very overgrown grass. Harry was staring unblinkingly ahead of him, trying to discern shapes through the gloom as Alicia looked around in other directions, trying to spot something, anything to lead the way.

Then, without warning, something grabbed hold of Harry's ankle. Harry twisted his body around as Alicia turned and saw a grindylow, a small, horned water demon, poking out of the weed, its long fingers clutched tightly around Harry's leg, its pointed fangs bared.

"Quick!" Alicia said remembering back to their classes on Gringylow. Harry stuck his webbed hand quickly inside his robes and fumbled for his wand. By the time he had grasped it, two more grindylows had risen out of the weed, had seized handfuls of Harry's robes, and were attempting to drag him down.

Alicia pulled on his arm, trying to release the creatures grips, but she had no strength, nothing she did seemed to make the difference. She wasn't physically there.

" _Relashio_!" Harry shouted, except that no sound came out… A large bubble issued from his mouth, and his wand, instead of sending sparks at the grindylows, pelted them with what seemed to be a jet of boiling water, for where it struck them, angry red patches appeared on their green skin. Harry pulled his ankle out of the grindylows grip and swam, as fast as he could, dragging Alicia with him who'd never released his hand, occasionally sending more jets of hot water over his shoulder at random; every now and then he felt one of the grindylows snatch at his foot again, and he kicked out, hard; finally, he foot connected with a horned skull, and looking back, saw the dazed grindylow floating away, cross-eyed, while its fellows shook their fists at Harry and sank back into the weed.

"Well that was interesting." Alicia muttered as Harry slowed down a little, slipping his wand back inside his robes, looking down and around as he listened.

 _That's right, the mermaids song…_ Alicia remembered.

Harry turned a full circle, dragging Alicia around with him as the silence continued around them.

"How are you getting on?"

Alicia jumped and Harry whipped around to see Moaning Myrtle floating hazily in front of them, gazing at him through her thick, pearly glasses.

"Myrtle!" Harry tried to shout — but once again, nothing came out of his mouth but a very large bubble. Moaning Myrtle actually giggled.

"Myrtle will know where to go!" Alicia said. She wasn't sure if Harry actually heard her or not but at least if he could it'd be beneficial.

"You want to try over there!" she said, pointing. "I won't come with you… I don't like them much, they always chase me when I get too close…"

Harry gave her the thumbs-up to show his thanks and set off once more, careful to swim a bit higher over the weed to avoid any more grindylows that might be lurking there.

"She is a gem really," Alicia admitted as they left the ghost.

They swam on for what felt like at least twenty minutes. Harry was passing over vast expanses of black mud now, which swirled murkily as he disturbed the water. Then, at long last, both of them heard a snatch of haunting mersong.

"An hour long you'll have to look, and to recover what we took…"

Harry swam faster, jerking Alicia suddenly who scowled by said nothing, and soon saw a large rock emerge out of the muddy water ahead. It had paintings of merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and chasing what looked like the giant squid. Harry swam on past the rock, following the mersong.

"… your time's half gone, so tarry not lest what you seek stays here to rot…"

 _Oh please._ Alicia muttered.

A cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, were faces… faces that bore no resemblance at all to the painting of the mermaid in the prefects' bathroom…

The merpeople had greyish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Harry as he swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch him better, their powerful, silver fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands.

Harry sped on, staring around, and soon the dwellings became more numerous; there were gardens of weed around some of them, and he even saw a pet grindylow tied to a stake outside one door. Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching him eagerly, pointing at his webbed hands and gills, talking behind their hands to one another.

Alicia wasn't interested in the Merpeople as much as she'd thought she'd be, she was looking for one thing, wondering how this was going to work when she spotted herself. Technically she should still be asleep, but that didn't mean she'd stay this ghost like thing when around herself.

Harry sped around a corner and a very strange sight met the two's eyes.

A whole crowd of merpeople was floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version of a village square. A choir of merpeople was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson.

Alicia was tied beside Cho Chang on the end. Fleur's sister hung beside Hermione beside her, her silver hair frayed out around her elegantly. All four of them were still in their slumber as their heads were lolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths.

"This is weird…" Alicia admitted as she stared at herself.

Harry sped toward the hostages as Alicia stared, her hand tight on Harry's as though she was going to vanish any second. The ropes of weed tying the hostages to the statue were thick, slimy, and very strong.

As they approached Alicia released Harry's hand hesitantly, waiting to vanish and fall back into the darkness of her mind but nothing happened. Harry looked around as he clenched his hand, apparently the feeling of her hand gone from his worrying him.

Alicia moved around her body as she looked at herself. It was different than looking at yourself in a mirror, it was like looking at a clone or something…

"This is so weird." she admitted and Harry looked towards his sister hanging limply as she slept.

He then looked around, trying to find something to break the ropes that bound them. Many of the merpeople surrounding them were carrying spears. He swam swiftly toward a seven-foot-tall merman with a long green beard and a choker of shark fangs and tried to mime a request to borrow the spear. The merman laughed and shook his head.

"We do not help," he said in a harsh, croaky voice.

"Come _ON_!" Harry said fiercely (but only bubbles issued from his mouth), and he tried to pull the spear away from the merman, but the merman yanked it back, still shaking his head and laughing.

Harry swirled around, staring about. Something sharp… anything…

Alicia looked around and even patted her own pockets to see if she had something on her, but naturally her pockets were empty.

Harry suddenly dived and Alicia watched as he snatched up a particularly jagged rock from the bottom of the lake before he returned to the statue. He began to hack at the ropes binding Alicia, and after several minutes' hard work, they broke apart. Alicia floated, unconscious, a few inches above the lake bottom, drifting a little in the ebb of the water.

Harry looked around. There was no sign of any of the other champions before he turned back to Hermione, raised the jagged rock, and began to hack at her bindings too —

"Harry?" Alicia questioned, he didn't have time to save her too, plus that was Krum's job?

At once, several pairs of strong grey hands seized him. Half a dozen mermen were pulling him away from Hermione, shaking their green-haired heads, and laughing.

"You take your own hostage," one of them said to him. "Leave the others…"

"No way!" said Harry furiously — but only two large bubbles came out.

"Your task is to retrieve your own friend… leave the others…"

" _She's_ my friend too!" Harry yelled, gesturing toward Hermione, an enormous silver bubble emerging soundlessly from his lips. "And I don't want _them_ to die either!"

Cho's head was on Hermione's shoulder; the small silver-haired girl was ghostly green and pale. Harry struggled to fight off the mermen, but they laughed harder than ever, holding him back. Harry looked wildly around. He looked down at his watch to see how much time was left — it had stopped working.

Alicia looked around trying to find the champions before the merpeople pointed excitedly over Harry's head. The twins turned and saw Cedric swimming toward them. There was an enormous bubble around his head, which made his features look oddly wide and stretched.

"Got lost!" he mouthed, looking panic-stricken. "Fleur and Krum're coming now!"

Feeling enormously relieved, Harry watched Cedric pull a knife out of his pocket and cut Cho free. He pulled her upward and out of sight.

Harry looked around, waiting. Time was getting short, and according to the song, the hostages would be lost after an hour…

"Harry what are you doing?" Alicia questioned "We need to go now!" she said, hoping she had taken the right notice of Harry's action in assuming he could hear her somehow.

The merpeople started screeching animatedly. Those holding Harry loosened their grip, staring behind them. Harry turned and saw something monstrous cutting through the water toward them: a human body in swimming trunks with the head of a shark… It was Krum. He appeared to have transfigured himself — but badly.

The shark-man swam straight to Hermione and began snapping and biting at her ropes; the trouble was that Krum's new teeth were positioned very awkwardly for biting anything smaller than a dolphin, if he wasn't careful, he was going to rip Hermione in half. Darting forward, Harry hit Krum hard on the shoulder and held up the jagged stone. Krum seized it and began to cut Hermione free. Within seconds, he had done it; he grabbed Hermione around the waist, and without a backward glance, began to rise rapidly with her toward the surface.

"That's two, come on, or you'll be over the time limit!" Alicia said, she hadn't moved from her own side.

Harry was looking around, obviously for Fleur, but she didn't arrive.

Harry dived and grabbed the rock Krum had dropped and turned to Alicia, her body and Fleur's sister. The merpeople immediately got into his way but Harry was done messing around as he drew his wand and pointed it at the Merpeople.

"Get out of the way!"

Only bubbles flew out of his mouth, but he had the distinct impression that the mermen had understood him, because they suddenly stopped laughing. Their yellowish eyes were fixed upon Harry's wand, and they looked scared. There might be a lot more of them than there were of him, but Harry could tell, by the looks on their faces, that they knew no more magic than the giant squid did.

"You've got until three!" Harry shouted; a great stream of bubbles burst from him, but he held up three fingers to make sure they got the message. "One…" (he put down a finger) "two…" (he put down a second one) —

They scattered and Harry darted forward and began to hack at the ropes binding the small girl to the statue, and at last she was free. He seized the little girl around the waist, grabbed the neck of Alicia's robes, and kicked off from the bottom.

It was very slow work. Harry could no longer use his webbed hands to propel himself forward; he worked his flippers furiously, but Alicia and Fleur's sister were like potato-filled sacks dragging him back down… He fixed his eyes skyward, though he knew he must still be very deep, the water above him was so dark…

Alicia had her hand on his shoulder and gave him a squeeze of comfort, she couldn't help — not that she hadn't tried — there was no strength behind her ghostly presence.

Merpeople were rising with him. He could see them swirling around him with ease, watching him struggle through the water…

Harry's legs were seizing up with the effort to keep swimming; his shoulders were aching horribly with the effort of dragging Alicia and the girl…

He was drawing breath with extreme difficulty. He could feel pain on the sides of his neck again… he was becoming very aware of how wet the water was in his mouth… yet the darkness was definitely thinning now… he could see daylight above him…

He kicked hard with his flippers and discovered that they were nothing more than feet… water was flooding through his mouth into his lungs… he was starting to feel dizzy

"Just a bit further!" Alicia encouraged, beginning to worry as she saw Harry struggle.

Alicia's head suddenly broke the surface. She felt the water over her face and her hair clinging to her skin. She felt Harry's hand on the back of her robes and she gasped for breath as she coughed up all the water within her system.

She coughed and spluttered before looking around to see Harry behind her and Fleur's sister within his grasp still, coughing herself, she looked further scared and confused above all else.

All around them, wild, green-haired heads were emerging out of the water with them, but they were smiling at Harry.

"God." Alicia coughed "Remind me to never agree to this again." she said as she looked at Harry, still holding Fleur's sister Harry launched forwards and wrapped his free hand around Alicia's neck.

"Calm down, Harry. I'm fine." she pushed him off her and grinned "And so are you! You figured it out!" she beamed before hugging him again.

The crowd on the bench behind them were screaming and shouting, a slight applause could be heard over the screeching of the Mermaids.

"C'mon," Harry said shortly, "help me with her, I don't think she can swim very well."

The twins helped Fleur's sister through the water and back toward the bank where the judges stood watching, twenty merpeople accompanying them like a guard of honour, singing their horrible screechy songs.

Ron appeared on the bank through the crowd.

"What did you bring her for?" he demanded

"Fleur didn't turn up, I couldn't leave her," Harry panted.

"Harry, you prat," said Ron, "you didn't take that song thing seriously, did you? Dumbledore wouldn't have let any of them drown!"

"The song said —"

"It was only to make sure you got back inside the time limit!" said Ron. "I hope you didn't waste time down there acting the hero!"

"Of course he did." Alicia coughed as she got to her feet, slipping over the slimy stones beneath her feet.

Madam Pomfrey was fussing over Hermione, Krum, Cedric, and Cho, all of whom were wrapped in thick blankets.

Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman stood beaming at them. Meanwhile Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting tooth and nail to return to the water.

"Gabrielle! _Gabrielle_! _Is she alive_? _Is she 'urt_?"

"She's fine!" Harry tried to tell her, but he was so exhausted he could hardly talk, let alone shout.

"She's alright Fleur." Alicia called, having much more strength than Harry did.

Dumbledore and Bagman were pulling Alicia and Harry upright; Fleur had broken free of Madame Maxime and was hugging her sister.

"It was ze grindylows… zey attacked me… oh Gabrielle, I though… I thought…"

"Come here, you," said Madam Pomfrey. She seized both Alicia and Harry and pulled them over to Hermione and the others, wrapped them both so tightly in a blanket and forced a measure of very hot potion down their throats. Steam gushed out of their ears.

"Harry, well done!" Hermione cried. "You did it, you found out how all by yourself!"

"Well —" said Harry.

Karkaroff was watching them. He was the only judge who had not left the table; the only judge not showing signs of pleasure and relief that Harry, Alicia, and Fleur's sister had got back safely. "Yeah, that's right," said Harry, raising his voice slightly so that Karkaroff could hear him.

"You haff a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny," said Krum. Alicia raised an eyebrow as Harry had the impression that Krum was drawing her attention back onto himself; perhaps to remind her that he had just rescued her from the lake, but Hermione brushed away the beetle impatiently and said, "You're well outside the time limit, though, Harry… Did it take you ages to find us?"

"No… I found you okay…"

"Understatement." Alicia muttered, earning a look from Harry that clearly said they had to have a talk later. She sighed.

Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson, a particularly wild and ferocious-looking female. He was making the same sort of screechy noises that the merpeople made when they were above water; clearly, Dumbledore could speak Mermish. Finally he straightened up, turned to his fellow judges, and said, "A conference before we give the marks, I think."

The judges went into a huddle. Fleur had many cuts on her face and arms and her robes were torn, but she didn't seem to care, nor would she allow Madam Pomfrey to clean them.

"Look after Gabrielle," she told her, and then she turned to Harry. "You saved 'er," she said breathlessly. "Even though she was not your 'ostage."

"Yeah," said Harry, who was now heartily wishing he'd left all three girls tied to the statue.

Fleur bent down, kissed Harry twice on each cheek

"Thank you." Flour said to Alicia as she kissed one of her cheeks.

"Wouldn't have been able to do it without these two." Alicia said pointing at Ron and Harry. In response Fleur then said to Ron who was standing with them, "And you too — you 'elped —"

"Yeah," said Ron, looking extremely hopeful, "yeah, a bit —"

Fleur swooped down on him too and kissed him. Hermione looked simply furious, but just then, Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside them, making them all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows…

"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

Applause from the stands.

"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her magnificent head.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd; Harry saw Cho give Cedric a glowing look. "We therefore award him forty-seven points."

Alicia frowned, if Cedric was out of the time limit then Harry more than certainly was. She huffed. He should have listened to her and left.

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior.

"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."

Ron and Hermione both gave Harry half-exasperated, half-commiserating looks while Alicia placed a hand on his shoulder with a nod as though to comfort him.

"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However… Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."

Alicia beamed, Harry was now tying for first place with _Cedric._ Ron and Hermione, caught by surprise, stared at Harry, then laughed and started applauding hard with the rest of the crowd.

"There you go, Harry!" Ron shouted over the noise. "You weren't being thick after all — you were showing moral fiber!"

"Well done Moral Fibre!" Alicia laughed

Fleur was clapping very hard too, but Krum didn't look happy at all. He attempted to engage Hermione in conversation again, but she was too busy cheering Harry to listen.

"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

It was over. Madam Pomfrey began herding the champions and hostages back to the castle to get into dry clothes.

"Well that was fun." Alicia rolled her eyes

"Yeah. I think we need to have a talk." Harry said to her, earning a confused looked from Hermione and Ron, who was joining them up the stairs.

She huffed. "Yeah I know."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26:

Everyone was keen to hear about the aftermath of what happened in the lake. Ron had said it was rather boring being stuck in the crowd waiting for the champions. Everyone wanted full details and Harry was swarmed by people more than usual. People even asked Alicia what had happened and what it was like being a hostage. People had been teasing Hermione so much about being the thing that Viktor Krum would most miss that she was in a rather tetchy mood. Ron had received the bad end of this quite a bit.

As they entered March the weather became drier, but cruel winds skinned their hands and faces every time they went out onto the grounds. There were delays in the post because the owls kept being blown off course. The brown owl that Harry had sent to Sirius with the dates of the Hogsmeade weekend turned up at breakfast on Friday morning with half its feathers sticking up the wrong way; Harry had no sooner torn off Sirius's reply than it took flight, clearly afraid it was going to be sent outside again.

Sirius's letter was almost as short as the previous one.

 _Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can._

"Told you." Alicia sighed, shaking her head and clearly disappointed.

"He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" said Ron incredulously.

"It looks like it, doesn't it?" said Hermione.

"I can't believe him," said Harry tensely, "if he's caught…"

"Made it so far, though, hasn't he?" said Ron. "And it's not like the place is swarming with dementors anymore."

Harry folded up the letter, thinking.

"Come on, don't tell us you don't want to see him?" Alicia smirked knowing the answer.

"And you don't?"

Alicia sighed and Harry noticed.

"I do…"

"But…"

"I still haven't opened his letter."

"What's in it?" Hermione asked and Alicia didn't answer.

"Are you gonna tell us what's going on with you lately?" Ron asked. Alicia opened her mouth only to be interrupted by Anthony. She smiled and was immersed in a conversation with him, clearly glad she didn't have to answer Ron.

"You know you're gonna have to talk to us eventually." Harry muttered to Alicia as they descended the dungeons steps to Snape's double potions class.

"I will. Tonight. Before we see Sirius obviously." she said.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in a huddle outside the classroom door with Pansy Parkinson's gang of Slytherin girls. All of them were looking at something Harry couldn't see and sniggering heartily. Pansy's pug-like face peered excitedly around Goyle's broad back as Harry, Ron, and Hermione approached.

"There they are, there they are!" she giggled, and the knot of Slytherins broke apart. Pansy had a magazine in her hands — _Witch Weekly_. The moving picture on the front showed a curly-haired witch who was smiling toothily and pointing at a large sponge cake with her wand.

"You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!" Pansy said loudly, and she threw the magazine at Hermione, who caught it, looking startled. At that moment, the dungeon door opened, and Snape beckoned them all inside.

Hermione, Alicia, Harry, and Ron headed for a table at the back of the dungeon as usual. Once Snape had turned his back on them to write up the ingredients of today's potion on the blackboard, Hermione hastily rifled through the magazine under the desk. At last, in the centre pages, Hermione found what they were looking for. Alicia and Harry leaned in closer, Ron looking over Harry's shoulder. A colour photograph of Harry headed a short piece entitled:

 _Harry Potter's Secret Heartache_

 _A boy like no other, perhaps — yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle-born Hermione Granger. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss._

 _Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections. Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has "never felt this way about any other girl."_

 _However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest._

 _"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."_

 _Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate._

"You've gotta be joking." Alicia sighed, sounding tired.

"I told you!" Ron hissed at Hermione as she stared down at the article. "I _told_ you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of — of scarlet woman!"

Hermione stopped looking astonished and snorted with laughter.

" _Scarlet woman_?" she repeated, shaking with suppressed giggles as she looked around at Ron.

"It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered, his ears going red.

"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," said Hermione, still giggling, as she threw _Witch Weekly_ onto the empty chair beside her. "What a pile of old rubbish."

"Funny how I was supposedly Harry's love interest and now you are." Alicia smirked "She's not doing a good job at keeping her stories straight."

Hermione shrugged as she looked over at the Slytherins, who were all watching her and Harry closely across the room to see if they had been upset by the article. Hermione gave them a sarcastic smile and a wave, and she, Alicia, Harry, and Ron started unpacking the ingredients they would need for their Wit-Sharpening Potion.

"There's something funny, though," said Hermione ten minutes later, holding her pestle suspended over a bowl of scarab beetles. "How could Rita Skeeter have known…?"

"Known what?" said Ron quickly. "You _haven't_ been mixing up Love Potions, have you?"

"Don't be stupid," Hermione snapped, starting to pound up her beetles again. "No, it's just… how did she know Viktor asked me to visit him over the summer?"

Hermione blushed scarlet as she said this and determinedly avoided Ron's eyes. Alicia smirked

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked teasingly, causing Hermione to blush harder.

"What?" said Ron, dropping his pestle with a loud clunk.

"He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake," Hermione muttered. "After he'd got rid of his shark's head. Madam Pomfrey gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges so they wouldn't hear, and he said, if I wasn't doing anything over the summer, would I like to —"

"And what did you say?" said Ron, who had picked up his pestle and was grinding it on the desk, a good six inches from his bowl, because he was looking at Hermione.

"And he _did_ say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione went on, going so red now that you could almost feel the heat coming from her, "but how could Rita Skeeter have heard him? She wasn't there… or was she? Maybe she _has_ got an Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the grounds to watch the second task…"

"I don't know, that doesn't really match Rita Skeeter's personality." Alicia muttered "She'd have to have something else… something more… ears-drop-ish and scandalish." Alicia smirked "Something really dirty that'd get her in her own column if someone found out."

"And what did you say?" Ron repeated, pounding his pestle down so hard that it dented the desk.

"Well, I was too busy seeing whether Alicia and Harry were okay to —"

"Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is, Miss Granger," said an icy voice right behind them, and all four of them jumped, "I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor."

Snape had glided over to their desk while they were talking. The whole class was now looking around at them; Malfoy took the opportunity to flash _POTTER STINKS_ across the dungeon at Harry.

"Ah… reading magazines under the table as well?" Snape added, snatching up the copy of _Witch Weekly._ "A further ten points from Gryffindor… oh but of course…" Snape's black eyes glittered as they fell on Rita Skeeter's article. "Potter has to keep up with his press cuttings…"

Alicia rolled her eyes as the dungeon rang with the Slytherins' laughter, and an unpleasant smile curled Snape's thin mouth. To Harry's fury, he began to read the article aloud.

" ' _Harry Potter's Secret Heartache…_ dear, dear, Potter, what's ailing you now? ' _A boy like no other, perhaps…_ ' "

Harry's face went scarlet as he glared at Snape, who was pausing at the end of every sentence to allow the Slytherins a hearty laugh. The article sounded ten times worse when read by Snape. Even Hermione was blushing scarlet now.

" '… _Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate._ ' How very touching," sneered Snape, rolling up the magazine to continued gales of laughter from the Slytherins. "Well, I think I had better separate the four of you, so you can keep your minds on your potions rather than on your tangled love lives. Weasley, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, beside Miss Parkinson. Evan's, Malfoy's table. Potter — that table in front of my desk. Move. Now."

Alicia packed her things and moved to the table containing Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise and dumped them down before organising her things and beginning to continue on with her potion.

"Are we jealous Evans?" Malfoy smirked and Alicia paused looking at him trying to think about what he meant. She raised an eyebrow.

"About?" she prompted

"Potter's love life? Did you blow your chance?" he smirked. Alicia sighed.

"Oh yes." she sighed, her voice overly tragic. "I confessed but he only liked me as a friend. It was so heart breaking I couldn't be near him for a week." Alicia rolled her eyes.

"Like that'd happen."

"You were the thing he can't go without." Malfoy was trying to find some angle to provoke her and from the corner of her eye Alicia could see Snape doing the same thing to Harry at the front of the class.

"What do you expect? He's my brother." she shrugged innocently, not caring if it was the truth. Malfoy would just scoff it off and begin to torment her on possible feelings anyway.

Only he didn't. He looked at her with narrowed eyes and Alicia smiled as she slipped her now cut ginger roots into her cauldron.

There was a knock on the dungeon door.

"Enter," said Snape in his usual voice.

The class looked around as the door opened. Professor Karkaroff came in. Everyone watched him as he walked up toward Snape's desk. He was twisting his finger around his goatee and looking agitated.

"We need to talk," said Karkaroff abruptly when he had reached Snape. He seemed so determined that nobody should hear what he was saying that he was barely opening his lips; it was as though he were a rather poor ventriloquist.

"I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," Snape muttered, but Karkaroff interrupted him.

"I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus. You've been avoiding me."

"After the lesson," Snape snapped.

Alicia stared at the two, not caring if she was caught doing so. Karkaroff looked extremely worried, and Snape looked angry.

Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double period. He seemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the end of class.

Alicia looked at Harry and caught his eye. She nodded her head towards Karkaroff and he nodded. Alicia watched as her twin deliberately knocked over his bottle of armadillo bile with two minutes to go to the bell, which gave him an excuse to duck down behind his cauldron and mop up while the rest of the class moved noisily toward the door.

Alicia cleaned up her things and followed Ron and Hermione out before she stood by the door waiting.

Karkaroff came out of the room first quickly followed by Harry,

"What happened?" Alicia hissed as they walked down the corridor, slowing so Karkaroff vanished from their sight with his speedy pace.

"Karkaroff was showing Snape something on his arm. Something that was apparently clear and hadn't been since some time, Snape cut him off and didn't want to see it. Karkaroff thought Snape should have noticed."

"Did you see what?" Alicia asked but Harry shook his head. Alicia sighed. She suddenly gasped and almost tripped over her robes as Harry pulled her into an empty classroom.

"Now. What happened during the second task?" Harry demanded "I heard you voice! Several times. And someone squeezed my shoulder and held my hand the entire time. And this isn't the first time."

"I don't know." Alicia hissed, keeping her voice low as she looked towards the door. She sighed. "The night you went to find out the clue of your egg I fell asleep while I researching the mermaids voices. And then suddenly, I wasn't in the common room I was standing beside you outside the prefects bathroom." Harry looked at her surprised "I followed you all the way to the staircase were you fell into the trick stair and the egg started screaming and you lost the map and Snape knew you were there and Moody saved you. I was there all the way until you left Moody's office."

"How?" Harry questioned, swallowing

"I don't know." Alicia shrugged "I woke up to find myself back in the common room. I thought it was all a dream but then you came into the common room and told me everything I'd just seen."

"What about the other day? In the lake?"

"Dumbledore bewitched me to sleep and everything went black. I don't know how much time passed but next thing I know I'm in the ocean, transparent almost and looking like a ghost trying to swim after you as you get attacked by grindylows and having Myrtle tell you were the merpeople are." she hissed and Harry looked surprised, he hadn't told anyone about Myrtle, for a reason obviously.

"And then when my head broke the surface I was in my body again. It's almost like an out of body experience but…" she huffed "I don't know what it is, but twice it's happened when I've been asleep and you've been out getting yourself into some kind of trouble. I don't know why it happens or how."

"After the first time I sent a letter to Sirius asking about it and that's what's in that letter I haven't opened." Alicia muttered.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it was fricken weird and creepy and you had the second task to worry about without needing to deal with what ever the hell's wrong with me as well." Alicia admitted

"Did you tell Ron and Hermione?" Harry wondered

"And say what? I'm a freak? Hermione would consult a book and Ron would stutter over his words or just stare at me shocked." she sighed and looked at Harry "But each time it's happened I've been you, I've been looking at everything from your perspective and then I'm suddenly next to you like a ghost."

"You've been me?"

"The first time I was holding the map and had your egg under my arm as I stood under the invisibility cloak then I was standing next to you and that's exactly what you looked like. Don't even get me started on how I could see you through the cloak." Alicia admitted

"The only thing I can think of is the fact that you and I have a connection. Dumbledore said we're connected in a way more than just twins."

"But why would it only be happening to you?"

"You're the one in the tournament, I'm not exactly doing much to need the comfort of my ghostly twin's presence." Alicia muttered with a roll of her eyes.

They were silent for a second.

"Why haven't you opened Sirius' letter?" Harry wondered finally

"Cause I'm worried he's going to tell me it's got nothing to do with our weird connection and that I'm messed up and need to go see someone." Alicia mumbled.

"It's probably also another reason he's coming down here for I told him before he asked when our next Hogsmeade visit was."

"Well there's nothing we can do about that now." Harry muttered as he watched his sister, worried for now.

"Don't pity me please." Alicia said rolling her eyes and moving towards the door "Just reminds me of it all." Harry held his hands up in defence as he followed her down the corridor and towards the Great Hall "Let's just tell Hermione and Ron about Karkaroff." she decided with a grin.

* * *

They left the castle at noon the next day to find a weak silver sun shining down upon the grounds. The weather was milder than it had been all year, and by the time they arrived in Hogsmeade, all three of them had taken off their cloaks and thrown them over their shoulders. The food Sirius had told them to bring was in Harry's bag; they had sneaked a dozen chicken legs, a loaf of bread, and a flask of pumpkin juice from the lunch table.

They went into Gladrags Wizardwear to buy a present for Dobby, who'd given Harry the Gillyweed for the second task, where they had fun selecting the most lurid socks they could find, including a pair patterned with flashing gold and silver stars, and another that screamed loudly when they became too smelly. Then, at half past one, they made their way up the High Street, past Dervish and Banges, and out toward the edge of the village.

Neither Alicia or Harry had ever been in this direction before. The winding lane was leading them out into the wild countryside around Hogsmeade. The cottages were fewer here, and their gardens larger; they were walking toward the foot of the mountain in whose shadow Hogsmeade lay. Then they turned a corner and saw a stile at the end of the lane. Waiting for them, its front paws on the topmost bar, was a very large, shaggy black dog, which was carrying some newspapers in its mouth and looking very familiar…

"Padfoot!" Alicia grinned and ran towards him, climbing the stile to hug the animal. She patted his head and he gave a happy sort of yelp.

"Hello, Sirius," said Harry when they had reached him.

The black dog sniffed Harry's bag eagerly, wagged its tail once, then turned and began to trot away from them across the scrubby patch of ground that rose to meet the rocky foot of the mountain. Alicia began to follow as Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed over the stile and did the same.

Sirius led them to the very foot of the mountain, where the ground was covered with boulders and rocks. It was easy for him, with his four paws, but Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione were soon out of breath. They followed Sirius higher, up onto the mountain itself. For nearly half an hour they climbed a steep, winding, and stony path, following Sirius's wagging tail, sweating in the sun, the shoulder straps of Harry's bag cutting into his shoulders.

Then, at last, Sirius slipped out of sight, and when they reached the place where he had vanished, they saw a narrow fissure in the rock. They squeezed into it and found themselves in a cool, dimly lit cave. Tethered at the end of it, one end of his rope around a large rock, was Buckbeak the hippogriff. Half grey horse, half giant eagle, Buckbeak's fierce orange eye flashed at the sight of them. All four of them bowed low to him, and after regarding them imperiously for a moment, Buckbeak bent his scaly front knees and allowed Alicia and Hermione to rush forward and stroke his feathery neck. Harry, however, was looking at the black dog, which had just turned into his godfather.

Sirius was wearing ragged grey robes; the same ones he had been wearing when he had left Azkaban. His black hair was longer than it had been when he had appeared in the fire, and it was untidy and matted once more. He looked very thin.

"Chicken!" he said hoarsely after removing the old _Daily Prophets_ from his mouth and throwing them down onto the cave floor.

Alicia left Buckbeak and over to Sirius who immediately hugged her back as she wrapped her arms around his thin frame.

"How are you going Alicia?"

"Oh you know, same ol', same ol', Harry's almost gotten killed a couple of times but what's new?" Sirius chuckled at her as Harry pulled open his bag and handed over the bundle of chicken legs and bread.

"Thanks," said Sirius, opening it, grabbing a drumstick, sitting down on the cave floor, and tearing off a large chunk with his teeth. "I've been living off rats mostly. Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself."

"Urgh." Alicia muttered "I'll send you an owl in the mornings if you want with some food." He grinned up at Alicia who sat down with him before turning to grin at Harry also, but Harry returned the grin only reluctantly.

"What're you doing here, Sirius?" he said.

"Fulfilling my duty as godfather," said Sirius, gnawing on the chicken bone in a very doglike way. "Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray."

"You are at heart." Alicia said ruffling his hair. Sirius looked at her annoyed and she only smirked.

He was still grinning, but seeing the anxiety in Harry's face, said more seriously, "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter… well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried."

He nodded at the yellowing _Daily Prophets_ on the cave floor, and Ron picked them up and unfolded them. Harry, however, continued to stare at Sirius.

"What if they catch you? What if you're seen?"

"You three and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus," said Sirius, shrugging, and continuing to devour the chicken leg.

Ron nudged Harry and passed him the _Daily Prophets._ There were two: The first bore the headline _Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch,_ the second, _Ministry Witch Still Missing_ — _Minister of Magic Now Personally Involved._

Harry scanned the story about Crouch. Phrases jumped out at him: hasn't been seen in public since November… house appears deserted… St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries decline comment… Ministry refuses to confirm rumours of critical illness…

Harry gave Alicia the paper who also read it over.

"They're making it sound like he's dying," said Harry slowly. "But he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here…"

"My brother's Crouch's personal assistant," Ron informed Sirius. "He says Crouch is suffering from overwork."

"Pfft." Alicia scoffed "This doesn't sound like that and even so…" Alicia muttered screwing up her face. Something was missing…

"Mind you, he _did_ look ill, last time I saw him up close," said Harry slowly. "The night my name came out of the goblet…"

"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" said Hermione, an edge to her voice. She was stroking Buckbeak, who was crunching up Sirius's chicken bones. "I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now — bet he feels the difference now she's not there to look after him."

"Hermione's obsessed with house-elfs," Ron muttered to Sirius, casting Hermione a dark look. Sirius, however, looked interested.

"Crouch sacked his house-elf?"

"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup," said Harry, and he launched into the story of the Dark Mark's appearance, and Winky being found with Harry's wand clutched in her hand, and Mr. Crouch's fury. When Harry had finished, Sirius was on his feet again and had started pacing up and down the cave.

"Let me get this straight," he said after a while, brandishing a fresh chicken leg. "You first saw the elf in the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?"

"Right," said Harry, Ron, and Hermione together.

"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"

"No," said Harry. "I think he said he'd been too busy."

Sirius paced all around the cave in silence. Then he said, "Harry, did you check your pockets for your wand after you'd left the Top Box?"

"Erm…" Harry thought hard. "No," he said finally. "I didn't need to use it before we got in the forest. And then I put my hand in my pocket, and all that was in there were my Omnioculars." He stared at Sirius. "Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?"

"It's possible," said Sirius.

"Winky didn't steal that wand!" Hermione insisted.

"The elf wasn't the only one in that box," said Sirius, his brow furrowed as he continued to pace. "Who else was sitting behind you?"

"Loads of people," said Harry. "Some Bulgarian ministers… Cornelius Fudge… the Malfoys…"

"The Malfoys!" said Ron suddenly, so loudly that his voice echoed all around the cave, and Buckbeak tossed his head nervously. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy!"

"Right under Fudge's nose?" Alicia asked with a raised eyebrow

"Anyone else?" said Sirius.

"No one," said Harry.

"Yes, there was, there was Ludo Bagman," Hermione reminded him.

"Oh yeah…"

"I don't know anything about Bagman except that he used to be Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps," said Sirius, still pacing. "What's he like?"

"He's okay," said Harry. "He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament."

"Does he, now?" said Sirius, frowning more deeply. "I wonder why he'd do that?"

"Says he's taken a liking to me," said Harry.

"I think he's in trouble with some goblins. We saw him with them in the Three Broomsticks a while back." Alicia admitted

"Hmm," said Sirius, looking thoughtful.

"We saw him in the forest just before the Dark Mark appeared," Hermione told Sirius. "Remember?" she said to Harry and Ron.

"He's a bit weird really. All boyish and having fun most of the time, but when we saw him in the forest he had no clue what was going on and looked frightened out of his wits…" Alicia muttered her eyebrows knitting together with confusion.

"Yeah, but he didn't stay in the forest, did he?" said Ron. "The moment we told him about the riot, he went off to the campsite."

"How d'you know?" Hermione shot back. "How d'you know where he Disapparated to?"

"Come off it," said Ron incredulously. "Are you saying you reckon Ludo Bagman conjured the Dark Mark?"

"It's more likely he did it than Winky," said Hermione stubbornly.

"No, I don't think Bagman's the type unless he was under the imperious curse, the look on his face when we saw him just wasn't right for him to conjure the Dark Mark." Alicia thought, her leg bouncing up and down on the floor as she thought

"Told you," said Ron, looking meaningfully at Sirius, "told you she's obsessed with house —"

But Sirius held up a hand to silence Ron.

"When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf had been discovered holding Harry's wand, what did Crouch do?"

"Went to look in the bushes," said Harry, "but there wasn't anyone else there."

"Of course," Sirius muttered, pacing up and down, "of course, he'd want to pin it on anyone but his own elf… and then he sacked her?"

"Yes," said Hermione in a heated voice, "he sacked her, just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled —"

"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!" said Ron.

Sirius shook his head and said, "She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

He ran a hand over his unshaven face, evidently thinking hard.

"All these absences of Barty Crouch's… he goes to the trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't bother to turn up and watch. He works very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to that too… It's not like Crouch. If he's ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak."

"That's what I thought. He's a workaholic, has no life otherwise and then he suddenly has Percy, someone he didn't even remember the name of, running his department after he's been there for what? A summer?" Alicia listed and Sirius nodded.

"D'you know Crouch, then?" said Harry.

Sirius's face darkened. He suddenly looked as menacing as he had the night when Harry first met him, the night when Harry still believed Sirius to be a murderer.

"Oh I know Crouch all right," he said quietly. "He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban — without a trial."

" _What_?" said Ron and Hermione together.

"You're kidding!" said Harry.

"Bastard." Alicia said darkly

"No, I'm not," said Sirius, taking another great bite of chicken. "Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know?"

Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione shook their heads.

"He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic," said Sirius. "He's a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical — and power-hungry. Oh never a Voldemort supporter," he said, reading the look on Harry's face. "No, Barty Crouch was always very out-spoken against the Dark Side. But then a lot of people who were against the Dark Side…. well, you wouldn't understand… you're too young…"

"That's what my dad said at the World Cup," said Ron, with a trace of irritation in his voice. "Try us, why don't you?"

"Yeah don't undermine us, make's me pissed." Alicia agreed giving Sirius a stern look that most would cave under.

A grin flashed across Sirius's thin face.

"All right, I'll try you…" He walked once up the cave, back again, and then said, "Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing… the Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere… panic… confusion… that's how it used to be."

Alicia frowned and a shiver when up her spin at the thought of it.

"Well, times like that bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning — I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The Aurors were given new powers — powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. And I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorised the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects. I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side. He had his supporters, mind you — plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamouring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time until Crouch got the top job. But then something rather unfortunate happened…" Sirius smiled grimly. "Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power."

"Crouch's _son_ was caught?" gasped Hermione.

"Yep," said Sirius, throwing his chicken bone to Buckbeak, flinging himself back down on the ground beside the loaf of bread with Alicia, and tearing it in half. "Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while… gotten to know his own son."

He began to wolf down large pieces of bread.  
" _Was_ his son a Death Eater?" said Harry.

"No idea," said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. "I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I've found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life were Death Eaters — but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf."

"Did Crouch try and get his son off?" Hermione whispered. Sirius let out a laugh that was much more like a bark.

"Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione! Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again — doesn't that tell you what he's like? Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy… then he sent him straight to Azkaban."

Alicia was staring with her mouth open, but her brain had began to tick… Crouch had a son…

"He gave his own son to the dementors?" asked Harry quietly.

"That's right," said Sirius, and he didn't look remotely amused now. "I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can't have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though… they all went quiet in the end… except when they shrieked in their sleep…"

For a moment, the deadened look in Sirius's eyes became more pronounced than ever, as though shutters had closed behind them.

"So he's still in Azkaban?" Harry said.

"No," said Sirius dully. "No, he's not in there anymore. He died about a year after they brought him in."

"He _died_?"

"He wasn't the only one," said Sirius bitterly. "Most go mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming, because the dementors could sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived. Crouch being an important Ministry member, he and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw Barty Crouch, half carrying his wife past my cell. She died herself, apparently, shortly afterward. Grief. Wasted away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son's body. The dementors buried him outside the fortress; I watched them do it."

Alicia looked confused, it had all begun to make sense before Sirius said that.

Sirius threw aside the bread he had just lifted to his mouth and instead picked up the flask of pumpkin juice and drained it.

"So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he had it made," he continued, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "One moment, a hero, poised to become Minister of Magic… next, his son dead, his wife dead, the family name dishonoured, and, so I've heard since I escaped, a big drop in popularity. Once the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the top job, and Crouch was shunted sideways into the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

There was a long silence. Alicia remembered the way Crouch's eyes had bulged as he'd looked down at his disobedient house-elf back in the wood at the Quidditch World Cup. This, then, must have been why Crouch had overreacted to Winky being found beneath the Dark Mark. It had brought back memories of his son, and the old scandal, and his fall from grace at the Ministry.

"Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark wizards," Harry told Sirius.

"Moody's not exactly much different…" Alicia admitted "Specially with his 'I'll never be a match for Mr Crouch' thing." she rolled her eyes and Sirius looked at her confused but she nodded

"Yeah, I've heard it's become a bit of a mania with him," said Sirius. "If you ask me, he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater."

"And he sneaked up here to search Snape's office!" said Ron triumphantly, looking at Hermione.

"Yes, and that doesn't make sense at all," said Sirius.

"Yeah, it does!" said Ron excitedly, but Sirius shook his head.

"Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why hasn't he been coming to judge the tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him."

"So you think Snape could be up to something, then?" asked Harry, but Hermione broke in.

"Look, I don't care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape —"

"Oh give it a rest, Hermione," said Ron impatiently. "I know Dumbledore's brilliant and everything, but that doesn't mean a really clever Dark wizard couldn't fool him —"

"That's an understatement seeing as Harry's name came out of the Goblet of fire. Moody said it had to be a very strong dark wizard to have hoodwinked it."

"See!" Ron pointed at Alicia

"That doesn't mean it was Snape though." Alicia said "Remember our first year, we've already been down the path of suspecting Snape, many times in fact."

"Exactly! Why did Snape save Harry's life in the first year, then? Why didn't he just let him die?"

"I dunno — maybe he thought Dumbledore would kick him out —"

"What d'you think, Sirius?" Harry said loudly, and Ron and Hermione stopped bickering to listen.

"I think they've both got a point," said Sirius, looking thoughtfully at Ron and Hermione. "Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I've wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was," Sirius added, and Harry and Ron grinned at each other. "Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters."

Sirius held up his fingers and began ticking off names.

"Rosier and Wilkes — they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges — they're a married couple — they're in Azkaban. Avery — from what I've heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he'd been acting under the Imperius Curse — he's still at large. But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater — not that that means much. Plenty of them were never caught. And Snape's certainly clever and cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble."

"Snape knows Karkaroff pretty well, but he wants to keep that quiet," said Ron.

"Yeah, you should've seen Snape's face when Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday!" said Harry quickly. "Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he says Snape's been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried. He showed Snape something on his arm, but I couldn't see what it was."

"He showed Snape something on his arm?" said Sirius, looking frankly bewildered. He ran his fingers distractedly through his filthy hair, then shrugged again. "Well, I've no idea what that's about… but if Karkaroff's genuinely worried, and he's going to Snape for answers…"

Sirius stared at the cave wall, then made a grimace of frustration.

Alicia had a feeling she knew the connection there… it had to have something to do with Voldemort.

"There's still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape, and I know Dumbledore trusts where a lot of other people wouldn't, but I just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he'd ever worked for Voldemort."

"Why are Moody and Crouch so keen to get into Snape's office then?" said Ron stubbornly.

"Well," said Sirius slowly, "I wouldn't put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his Defence Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I'm not sure _he_ trusts anyone at all, and after the things he's seen, it's not surprising. I'll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. Crouch, though… he's a different matter… is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape's office? And if he's not… what's he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn't turn up in the Top Box? What's he been doing while he should have been judging the tournament?"

Sirius lapsed into silence, still staring at the cave wall. Buckbeak was ferreting around on the rocky floor, looking for bones he might have overlooked.

"If you ask me I don't like either of them." and everyone looked at Alicia surprised

"You don't like Moody?" Sirius asked

"Big deal, everyone's scared of him." Ron shrugged

"No, he makes a shiver run up my spine, it's different to being afraid." Alicia admitted "I had the same feeling with Quirrell after a while in our first year too." Alicia said strongly and Ron looked at her.

"At Moody?" Sirius asked. Alicia nodded

"Something's off, I feel like I'm missing an important clue and for a second I thought I had it, till you said Crouch's son died."

"What was it?" Sirius asked

"Well, it's a long shot, but… what if the Bartimus Crouch on the map, wasn't Mr Crouch, but his son?" Alicia asked and everyone looked at her

"I know, how would he get to Hogwarts if he was in Azkaban and why haven't we heard of his escape? Those are just details that could be worked out later if I'm right. If he was a death eater and he was at Hogwarts, it would explain a lot, Harry's name coming out of the fire, Crouch's sudden illness, I mean he could know all about it but not want to live through the shame again. Why Winky had Harry's wand and was caught at the scene of the crime, I mean Crouch's son would be her master too right? But if he's dead and you saw him get buried, Sirius, then… it's all just words." she huffed "But everything that's happened this year somehow, connects back to Crouch!"

"That's a good theory if he was alive."

"Except why would Mr Crouch's name come up for his son?" Ron asked

"Junior?" Alicia shrugged "I don't know the details." she shrugged "It was just a thought that died." she muttered looking irritated.

There was silence again as everyone looked at Alicia's frustrated expression. Finally, Sirius looked up at Ron.

"You say your brother's Crouch's personal assistant? Any chance you could ask him if he's seen Crouch lately?"

"I can try," said Ron doubtfully. "Better not make it sound like I reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, though. Percy loves Crouch."

"Just pretend you love Crouch too and he'll spill." Alicia waved her hand.

"And you might try and find out whether they've got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," said Sirius, gesturing to the second copy of the _Daily Prophet_.

"Bagman told me they hadn't," said Harry.

"Yes, he's quoted in the article in there," said Sirius, nodding at the paper. "Blustering on about how bad Bertha's memory is. Well, maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all — quite the reverse. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into a lot of trouble; she never knew when to keep her mouth shut. I can see her being a bit of a liability at the Ministry of Magic… maybe that's why Bagman didn't bother to look for her for so long…"

Sirius heaved an enormous sigh and rubbed his shadowed eyes. "What's the time?"

Harry checked his watch, then remembered it hadn't been working since it had spent over an hour in the lake.

"It's half past three," said Hermione.

"You'd better get back to school," Sirius said, getting to his feet.

"Now listen…" He looked particularly hard at Harry. "I don't want you lot sneaking out of school to see me, all right? — ("Drats." Alicia clicked her fingers but shot a grin which Sirius returned) — Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything odd." He looked at Alicia who removed her gaze "But you're not to go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you."

"No one's tried to attack me so far, except a dragon and a couple of grindylows," Harry said, but Sirius scowled at him.

"That's cause they're hoping you'll die in the tournament." Alicia muttered

"I don't care… I'll breathe freely again when this tournament's over, and that's not until June. And don't forget, if you're talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay?"

"Snuffles?" Alicia burst out laughing "What's wrong with Padfoot?" she laughed. Sirius didn't answer but grinned as he handed Harry the empty napkin and flask and went to pat Buckbeak good-bye. "I'll walk to the edge of the village with you," said Sirius, "see if I can scrounge another paper."

He transformed into the great black dog before they left the cave, and they walked back down the mountainside with him, across the boulder-strewn ground, and back to the stile. Here he allowed each of them to pat him on the head, before turning and setting off at a run around the outskirts of the village. Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione made their way back into Hogsmeade and up toward Hogwarts.

"Wonder if Percy knows all that stuff about Crouch?" Ron said as they walked up the drive to the castle. "But maybe he doesn't care… it'd probably just make him admire Crouch even more. Yeah, Percy loves rules. He'd just say Crouch was refusing to break them for his own son."

"Percy would never throw any of his family to the dementors," said Hermione severely.

"I don't know," said Ron. "If he thought we were standing in the way of his career… Percy's really ambitious, you know…"

They walked up the stone steps into the entrance hall, where the delicious smells of dinner wafted toward them from the Great Hall. "Poor old Snuffles," said Ron, breathing deeply. "He must really like you, Harry… Imagine having to live off rats."


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27:

Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione went up to the Owlery after breakfast on Sunday to send a letter to Percy, asking, as Sirius had suggested, whether he had seen Mr. Crouch lately. They used Hedwig, because it had been so long since she'd had a job. When they had watched her fly out of sight through the Owlery window, they proceeded down to the kitchen to give Dobby his new socks.

The house-elves gave them a very cheery welcome, bowing and curtsying and bustling around making tea again. Dobby was ecstatic about his present.

"Harry Potter is too good to Dobby!" he squeaked, wiping large tears out of his enormous eyes.

"You saved my life with that gillyweed, Dobby, you really did," said Harry.

"No chance of more of those eclairs, is there?" said Ron, who was looking around at the beaming and bowing house-elves.

"You've just had breakfast!" said Hermione irritably, but a great silver platter of eclairs was already zooming toward them, supported by four elves.

"These were really good though." Alicia smirked as she took an eclair.

"We should get some stuff to send up to Snuffles," Harry muttered.

"Good idea," said Ron. "Give Pig something to do. You couldn't give us a bit of extra food, could you?" he said to the surrounding elves, and they bowed delightedly and hurried off to get some more.

"Dobby, where's Winky?" said Hermione, who was looking around.

"Winky is over there by the fire, miss," said Dobby quietly, his ears drooping slightly.

"Oh dear," said Hermione as she spotted Winky.

The other three looked over at the fireplace too. Winky was sitting on the same stool as last time, but she had allowed herself to become so filthy that she was not immediately distinguishable from the smoke-blackened brick behind her. Her clothes were ragged and unwashed. She was clutching a bottle of butterbeer and swaying slightly on her stool, staring into the fire. As they watched her, she gave an enormous hiccup.

"Winky is getting through six bottles a day now," Dobby whispered to Harry.

"Well, it's not strong, that stuff," Harry said. But Dobby shook his head.

"'Tis strong for a house-elf, sir," he said.

"I know loosing something important to you is hard, but this seems way too extreme…" Alicia muttered with a raised eyebrow.

Winky hiccuped again. The elves who had brought the eclairs gave her disapproving looks as they returned to work.

"Winky is pining, Harry Potter," Dobby whispered sadly. "Winky wants to go home. Winky still thinks Mr. Crouch is her master, sir, and nothing Dobby says will persuade her that Professor Dumbledore is her master now."

"Hey, Winky," said Harry, struck by a sudden inspiration, walking over to her, and bending down, "you don't know what Mr. Crouch might be up to, do you? Because he's stopped turning up to judge the Triwizard Tournament."

Winky's eyes flickered. Her enormous pupils focused on Harry. She swayed slightly again and then said, "M — Master is stopped — _hic_ — coming?"

"Yeah," said Harry, "we haven't seen him since the first task. The _Daily Prophet's_ saying he's ill."

Winky swayed some more, staring blurrily at Harry.

"Master — _hic_ — ill?" Her bottom lip began to tremble.

"But we're not sure if that's true," said Hermione quickly.

"Master is needing his — _hic_ — Winky!" whimpered the elf. "Master cannot — _hic_ — manage — _hic_ — all by himself…"

"Other people manage to do their own housework, you know, Winky," Hermione said severely.

"Winky — _hic_ — is not only — _hic_ — doing housework for Mr. Crouch!" Winky squeaked indignantly, swaying worse than ever and slopping butterbeer down her already heavily stained blouse. "Master is — _hic_ — trusting Winky with — _hic_ — the most important — _hic_ — the most secret —"

Alicia's eyebrows narrowed as she watched the housewife closely.

"What?" said Harry.

But Winky shook her head very hard, spilling more butterbeer down herself.

"Winky keeps — _hic_ — her master's secrets," she said mutinously, swaying very heavily now, frowning up at Harry with her eyes crossed. "You is — _hi_ c — nosing, you is."

"Winky must not talk like that to Harry Potter!" said Dobby angrily. "Harry Potter is brave and noble and Harry Potter is not nosy!

"He is nosing — _hic_ — into my master's — _hic_ — private and secret — _hic_ — Winky is a good house-elf — _hic_ — Winky keeps her silence — _hic_ — people trying to — _hic_ — pry and poke — _hic_ —"

Winky's eyelids drooped and suddenly, without warning, she slid off her stool into the hearth, snoring loudly. The empty bottle of butterbeer rolled away across the stone-flagged floor.

"Now what could Mr Crouch be hiding that's so important…?" Hermione and Ron looked at Alicia

"What?" Harry asked

"Well Crouch doesn't have a dog does he?" Alicia asked "Winky isn't doing house work but is looking after the most important secret Crouch has… What could Crouch have that was so important that he probably told Winky she couldn't divulge even if she was let go?" Alicia thought as half a dozen house-elves came hurrying forward, looking disgusted.

Harry looked at Alicia who's mind was ticking over as she stared at Winky on the floor.

"Well when you figure it out make sure you let us know." Ron decided, an eclair in his mouth.

One of them picked up the bottle; the others covered Winky with a large checked tablecloth and tucked the ends in neatly, hiding her from view.

"We is sorry you had to see that, sirs and miss'!" squeaked a nearby elf, shaking his head and looking very ashamed. "We is hoping you will not judge us all by Winky, sirs and miss'!"

"She's unhappy!" said Hermione, exasperated. "Why don't you try and cheer her up instead of covering her up?"

"Begging your pardon, miss," said the house-elf, bowing deeply again, "but house-elves has no right to be unhappy when there is work to be done and masters to be served."

"Oh for heaven's sake!" Hermione cried. "Listen to me, all of you! You've got just as much right as wizards to be unhappy! You've got the right to wages and holidays and proper clothes, you don't have to do everything you're told — look at Dobby!"

"Miss will please keep Dobby out of this," Dobby mumbled, looking scared.

"Ignore Hermione." Alicia said and Hermione looked at her angrily "You are entitled to live your life however you want and do what ever makes you happy." Alicia said more to Hermione then the house-elves.

But Hermione had already upset them, the cheery smiles had vanished from the faces of the house-elves around the kitchen. They were suddenly looking at Hermione as though she were mad and dangerous.

"We has your extra food!" squeaked an elf at Harry's elbow, and he shoved a large ham, a dozen cakes, and some fruit into Harry's arms. "Good-bye!"

The house-elves crowded around Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione and began shunting them out of the kitchen, many little hands pushing in the smalls of their backs.

"Thank you for the socks, Harry Potter!" Dobby called miserably from the hearth, where he was standing next to the lumpy tablecloth that was Winky.

"You couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you, Hermione?" said Ron angrily as the kitchen door slammed shut behind them. "They won't want us visiting them now! We could've tried to get more stuff out of Winky about Crouch!"

"Oh as if you care about that!" scoffed Hermione. "You only like coming down here for the food!"

"And for someone who's supposed to be the brightest witch of her age you're really thick at the moment Hermione." Alicia snapped, earning a glare in return.

It was an irritable sort of day after that. Harry was tired of Ron and Hermione sniping at each other over their homework in the common room while Alicia sat ignoring them both, being the only one to complete her homework. She was more than happy to accompany her brother up to the Owlery that evening to deliver Sirius the food they'd acquired.

Pigwidgeon was more than happy to see them, but he wasn't big enough.

"He'll end up in the forest, tied to the ground like a dumbwaiter." Alicia admitted earning a chuckle from Harry.

"Let's add a few more then." he decided.

"Noel!" Alicia said holding out her arm and the black owl swooped happily towards them. "We need you to take Padfoot some food." Harry also enlisted the help of a school screech owl as well. When they had set off into the dusk, looking extremely odd carrying the large package between them, Harry leaned on the windowsill, looking out at the grounds, at the dark, rustling treetops of the Forbidden Forest, and the rippling sails of the Durmstrang ship. An eagle owl flew through the coil of smoke rising from Hagrid's chimney; it soared toward the castle, around the Owlery, and out of sight. Looking down, Harry saw Hagrid digging energetically in front of his cabin.

"Hey Alicia," Alicia poked her head out beside Harry. "Wonder what Hagrid's doing?" they watched him for a minute as Hagrid looked as though he were making a new vegetable patch. As they watched, Madame Maxime emerged from the Beauxbatons carriage and walked over to Hagrid. She appeared to be trying to engage him in conversation. Hagrid leaned upon his spade, but did not seem keen to prolong their talk, because Madame Maxime returned to the carriage shortly afterward.

"Think they're fighting?" Alicia muttered "After the talk at the Yule Ball?" Harry shrugged and made no effort to move as the two watched the half giant. It wasn't until the darkness swallowed him and the owls around the twins began to awake, swooshing past them into the night that Alicia decided they had to go, no matter how much Hermione and Ron annoyed them.

* * *

By breakfast the next day Ron's and Hermione's bad moods had burnt out, and to Harry's relief, Ron's dark predictions that the house-elves would send substandard food up to the Gryffindor table because Hermione had insulted them proved false; the bacon, eggs, and kippers were quite as good as usual.

"You were just silly, there's more then just Hermione eating at this table." Alicia had said with a roll of her eyes.

When the post owls arrived, Hermione looked up eagerly; she seemed to be expecting something.

"Percy won't've had time to answer yet," said Ron. "We only sent Hedwig yesterday."

"No, it's not that," said Hermione. "I've taken out a subscription to the _Daily Prophet._ I'm getting sick of finding everything out from the Slytherins."

"Good thinking!" said Harry, also looking up at the owls. "Hey, Hermione, I think you're in luck —"

A grey owl was soaring down toward Hermione.

"It hasn't got a newspaper, though," she said, looking disappointed. "It's —"

But to her bewilderment, the grey owl landed in front of her plate, closely followed by four barn owls, a brown owl, and a tawny.

"How many subscriptions did you take out?" said Harry, seizing Hermione's goblet before it was knocked over by the cluster of owls, all of whom were jostling close to her, trying to deliver their own letter first.

"What on earth — ?" Hermione said, taking the letter from the grey owl, opening it, and starting to read. "Oh really!" she sputtered, going rather red.

"What's up?" said Ron.

"It's — oh how ridiculous —"

She thrust the letter at Harry, who saw that it was not handwritten, but composed from pasted letters that seemed to have been cut out of the _Daily Prophet._

You are a WickEd giRL. HarRy PotTER desErves BeTteR. GO back wherE you cAMe from mUGgle.

"Hate mail." Alicia groaned as she took a letter from an owl herself and opened it.

"They're all like it!" said Hermione desperately, opening one letter after another. "' _Harry Potter can do much better than the likes of you…_ ' ' _You deserve to be boiled in frog spawn…_ ' Ouch!"

She had opened the last envelope, and yellowish-green liquid smelling strongly of petrol gushed over her hands, which began to erupt in large yellow boils.

"Undiluted bubotuber pus!" said Ron, picking up the envelope gingerly and sniffing it.

"Ow!" said Hermione, tears starting in her eyes as she tried to rub the pus off her hands with a napkin, but her fingers were now so thickly covered in painful sores that it looked as though she were wearing a pair of thick, knobbly gloves.

"You'd better get up to the hospital wing," said Harry as the owls around Hermione took flight. "We'll tell Professor Sprout where you've gone…"

"I warned her!" said Ron as Hermione hurried out of the Great Hall, cradling her hands. "I warned her not to annoy Rita Skeeter! Look at this one…" He read out one of the letters Hermione had left behind: "' _I read in_ Witch Weekly _about how you are playing Harry Potter false and that boy has had enough hardship and I will be sending you a curse by next post as soon as I can find a big enough envelope._ ' Blimey, she'd better watch out for herself."

"I can't believe people actually believe Rita Skeeter. I mean for crying out loud, she changed her story from Harry dating me to dating Hermione without a single word of me in the latest article." Alicia huffed "People are stupid."

Hermione didn't turn up for Herbology. As Harry, Alicia and Ron left the greenhouse for their Care of Magical Creatures class, they saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle descending the stone steps of the castle. Pansy Parkinson was whispering and giggling behind them with her gang of Slytherin girls. Catching sight of Harry, Pansy called, "Potter, have you split up with your girlfriend? Why was she so upset at breakfast?"

Harry ignored her; he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing how much trouble the _Witch Weekly_ article had caused.

Hagrid, who had told them last lesson that they had finished with unicorns, was waiting for them outside his cabin with a fresh supply of open crates at his feet. Harry's heart sank at the sight of the crates — surely not another skrewt hatching? — but when they got near enough to see inside, they found themselves looking at a number of fluffy black creatures with long snouts. Their front paws were curiously flat, like spades, and they were blinking up at the class, looking politely puzzled at all the attention.

"They looked kinda like moles…" Alicia admitted

"These're nifflers," said Hagrid, when the class had gathered around. "Yeh find 'em down mines mostly. They like sparkly stuff… There yeh go, look."

One of the nifflers had suddenly leapt up and attempted to bite Pansy Parkinson's watch off her wrist. She shrieked and jumped backward.

"Useful little treasure detectors," said Hagrid happily. "Thought we'd have some fun with 'em today. See over there?" He pointed at the large patch of freshly turned earth Alicia and Harry had watched him digging from the Owlery window. "I've buried some gold coins. I've got a prize fer whoever picks the niffler that digs up most. Jus' take off all yer valuables, an' choose a niffler, an' get ready ter set 'em loose."

Alicia looked down at her wrists, a few bracelets and her watch sitting there. She sighed and pulled them off before putting them in her pocket.

Alicia leaned down and picked up a niffler. It was soft and fluffy and Alicia couldn't help but coo as she gave it a cuddle. It seemed to enjoy that.

"Hang on," said Hagrid, looking down into the crate, "there's a spare niffler here… who's missin'? Where's Hermione?"

"She had to go to the hospital wing," said Ron.

"We'll explain later," Harry muttered; Pansy Parkinson was listening.

It was easily the most fun they had ever had in Care of Magical Creatures. The nifflers dived in and out of the patch of earth as though it were water, each scurrying back to the student who had released it and spitting gold into their hands. Ron's was particularly efficient; it had soon filled his lap with coins.

"Can you buy these as pets, Hagrid?" he asked excitedly as his niffler dived back into the soil, splattering his robes.

"Yer mum wouldn' be happy, Ron," said Hagrid, grinning. "They wreck houses, nifflers. I reckon they've nearly got the lot, now," he added, pacing around the patch of earth while the nifflers continued to dive. "I on'y buried a hundred coins. Oh there y'are, Hermione!"

Hermione was walking toward them across the lawn. Her hands were very heavily bandaged and she looked miserable. Pansy Parkinson was watching her beadily.

"Well, let's check how yeh've done!" said Hagrid. "Count yer coins! An' there's no point tryin' ter steal any, Goyle," he added, his beetle-black eyes narrowed. "It's leprechaun gold. Vanishes after a few hours."

Goyle emptied his pockets, looking extremely sulky. It turned out that Ron's niffler had been most successful, so Hagrid gave him an enormous slab of Honeydukes chocolate for a prize. The bell rang across the grounds for lunch; the rest of the class set off back to the castle, but Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione stayed behind to help Hagrid put the nifflers back in their boxes. Harry noticed Madame Maxime watching them out of her carriage window.

"What yeh done ter your hands, Hermione?" said Hagrid, looking concerned.

Hermione told him about the hate mail she had received that morning, and the envelope full of bubotuber pus.

"Aaah, don' worry," said Hagrid gently, looking down at her. "I got some o' those letters an' all, after Rita Skeeter wrote abou' me mum. ' _Yeh're a monster an' yeh should be put down_.' ' _Yer mother killed innocent people an' if you had any decency you'd jump in a lake._ ' "

"No!" said Hermione, looking shocked.

"Yeah," said Hagrid, heaving the niffler crates over by his cabin wall. "They're jus' nutters, Hermione. Don' open 'em if yeh get any more. Chuck 'em straigh' in the fire."

"You missed a really good lesson," Harry told Hermione as they headed back toward the castle. "They're good, nifflers, aren't they, Ron?"

Ron, however, was frowning at the chocolate Hagrid had given him. He looked thoroughly put out about something.

"What's the matter?" said Harry. "Wrong flavour?" Alicia snickered

"No," said Ron shortly. "Why didn't you tell me about the gold?"

"What gold?" said Harry.

"The gold I gave you at the Quidditch World Cup," said Ron. "The leprechaun gold I gave you for my Omnioculars. In the Top Box. Why didn't you tell me it disappeared?"

Harry had to think for a moment before he realised what Ron was talking about.

"Oh…" he said, the memory coming back to him at last. "I dunno… I never noticed it had gone. I was more worried about my wand, wasn't I?"

"It disappeared?" Alicia asked thinking. She then remembered Fred and George, they'd asked her what happened to the gold as well… but that was what Ludo Bagman had given them… her eyes narrowed, Bagman didn't give them leprechaun gold did he?

They climbed the steps into the entrance hall and went into the Great Hall for lunch.

"Must be nice," Ron said abruptly, when they had sat down and started serving themselves roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. "To have so much money you don't notice if a pocketful of Galleons goes missing."

"Listen, I had other stuff on my mind that night!" said Harry impatiently. "We all did, remember?"

"I didn't know leprechaun gold vanishes," Ron muttered. "I thought I was paying you back. You shouldn't've given me that Chudley Cannon hat for Christmas."

"Forget it, all right?" said Harry.

"Yeah it's too late now." Alicia shrugged as she grabbed some roast chicken and drowned it and roast potatoes and carrots in gravy.

Ron speared a roast potato on the end of his fork, glaring at it. Then he said, "I hate being poor."

Alicia, Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Neither of them really knew what to say.

"It's rubbish," said Ron, still glaring down at his potato. "I don't blame Fred and George for trying to make some extra money. Wish I could. Wish I had a niffler."

"Well, we know what to get you next Christmas," said Hermione brightly. Then, when Ron continued to look gloomy, she said, "Come on, Ron, it could be worse. At least your fingers aren't full of pus." Hermione was having a lot of difficulty managing her knife and fork, her fingers were so stiff and swollen. "I _hate_ that Skeeter woman!" she burst out savagely. "I'll get her back for this if it's the last thing I do!"

"And how on earth do you plan to do that?" Alicia asked but Hermione had no answer.

* * *

Hate mail continued to arrive for Hermione over the following week, and although she followed Hagrid's advice and stopped opening it, several of her ill-wishers sent Howlers, which exploded at the Gryffindor table and shrieked insults at her for the whole Hall to hear. Even those people who didn't read _Witch Weekly_ knew all about the supposed Harry-Krum-Hermione triangle now. Harry was getting sick of telling people that Hermione wasn't his girlfriend.

"It'll die down, though," he told Hermione, "if we just ignore it… People got bored with that stuff she wrote about me last time —"

"Yeah, don't see people asking me if I'm upset over this." Alicia shrugged

"I want to know how she's listening into private conversations when she's supposed to be banned from the grounds!" said Hermione angrily.

"Apparently there's a way, I mean… Padfoot did it…" she paused and thought _But that's cause he's an animagus…_ Alicia's eyebrows knitted together as Hermione, Ron and Harry watched her confused. _No…_ she thought.

Hermione hung back in their next Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson to ask Professor Moody something. The rest of the class was very eager to leave; Moody had given them such a rigorous test of hex-deflection that many of them were nursing small injuries. Harry had such a bad case of Twitchy Ears, he had to hold his hands clamped over them as he walked away from the class.

"Well, Rita's definitely not using an Invisibility Cloak!" Hermione panted five minutes later, catching up with Harry, Alicia and Ron in the entrance hall and pulling Harry's hand away from one of his wiggling ears so that he could hear her. "Moody says he didn't see her anywhere near the judges' table at the second task, or anywhere near the lake!"

"Hermione, is there any point in telling you to drop this?" said Ron.

"No!" said Hermione stubbornly. "I want to know how she heard me talking to Viktor! _And_ how she found out about Hagrid's mum!"

"Maybe she had you bugged," said Harry.

"Bugged?" said Ron blankly. "What… put fleas on her or something?"

Harry started explaining about hidden microphones and recording equipment. Ron was fascinated, but Hermione interrupted them.

"Aren't you two ever going to read Hogwarts, A History?"

"What's the point?" said Ron. "You know it by heart, we can just ask you."

"All those substitutes for magic Muggles use — electricity, computers, and radar, and all those things — they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air. No, Rita's using magic to eavesdrop, she must be… If I could just find out what it is… ooh, if it's illegal, I'll have her…"

"Haven't we got enough to worry about?" Ron asked her. "Do we have to start a vendetta against Rita Skeeter as well?"

"I'm not asking you to help!" Hermione snapped. "I'll do it on my own!"

She marched back up the marble staircase without a backward glance. Harry was quite sure she was going to the library.

"What's the betting she comes back with a box of _I Hate Rita Skeeter_ badges?" said Ron.

"I guess she doesn't want to hear my idea then." Alicia shrugged

"What's that?" Ron asked

"Well, the only time someone was able to sneak around Hogwarts like Rita's apparently doing, was last year." Alicia explained

"Last year?" Harry asked

"Yeah. Take a guess." she smirked

"We don't know anyone who snuck around Hogwarts completely undetected last year?" Ron thought and Alicia raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Really? We know absolutely no one in hiding?" she asked and Harry looked at her

"Sirius?" he whispered

"Thank you." she said

"But that's because he's an animagus?" Ron said and Alicia smiled

"Hogwarts had three unregistered animagus running around Hogwarts for a good three years. And what a better way of getting a scoop than being able to listen in undetected?" Alicia wondered

"You think Rita Skeeter's an unregistered animagus?" Ron asked in disbelief

"It's a theory." she shrugged "And I am a genius at theories." she smirked.

Hermione, true to her word, did not ask Harry and Ron to help her pursue vengeance against Rita Skeeter, she asked Alicia who pointed to her homework.

"Maybe another time." Their workload was mounting ever higher in the days before the Easter holidays. Harry frankly marvelled at the fact that Hermione could research magical methods of eavesdropping as well as everything else they had to do. He was working flat-out just to get through all their homework, though both he and Alicia made a point of sending regular food packages up to the cave in the mountain for Sirius. They enclosed notes to Sirius, telling him that nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and that they were still waiting for an answer from Percy.

Hedwig didn't return until the end of the Easter holidays. Percy's letter was enclosed in a package of Easter eggs that Mrs. Weasley had sent. Alicia's, Harry's and Ron's were the size of dragon eggs and full of homemade toffee. Hermione's, however, was smaller than a chicken egg. Her face fell when she saw it.

"Your mum doesn't read _Witch Weekly,_ by any chance, does she, Ron?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," said Ron, whose mouth was full of toffee. "Gets it for the recipes."

Hermione looked sadly at her tiny egg.

"I can't believe Mrs Weasley would believe that." Alicia muttered "Here Hermione, have some of my toffee." she said smiling.

"Don't you want to see what Percy's written?" Harry asked her hastily.

Percy's letter was short and irritated.

 _As I am constantly telling the Daily Prophet, Mr. Crouch is taking a well-deserved break. He is sending in regular owls with instructions. No, I haven't actually seen him, but I think I can be trusted to know my own superior's handwriting. I have quite enough to do at the moment without trying to quash these ridiculous rumours. Please don't bother me again unless it's something important. Happy Easter._

"Don't worry Percy, we hate you too." Alicia said eerily before she began to mutter aggravated under her breath.

The start of the summer term would normally have meant that Harry and Alicia were training hard for the last Quidditch match of the season. This year, however, it was the third and final task in the Triwizard Tournament for which Harry needed to prepare, but he still didn't know what he would have to do. Finally, in the last week of May, Professor McGonagall held him back in Transfiguration. Alicia waited and listened through the door.

"You are to go down to the Quidditch field tonight at nine o'clock, Potter," she told him. "Mr. Bagman will be there to tell the champions about the third task."

Harry came out a minute later.

"You're to tell me everything." she said immediately and Harry nodded

"How would I complete it without you lot?"

"Well you have Hagrid and Dobby." Alicia smiled and Harry rolled his eyes.

So at half past eight that night, Harry left Alicia, Ron and Hermione in the Gryffindor Tower and went downstairs.

"What do you reckon the next task would be?" Ron asked, he was trying to do his transfiguration homework.

"Well, if we could find some pattern…" Alicia thought and Ron and Hermione both turned to her

"What?"

"You're the one who connects the dots." Ron shrugged and Alicia rolled her eyes

"We had dragons, merpeople… which is sort of fire and water…" she paused "It'll either be something to do with the ground or the air… which I guess Harry sort of did with the broom and putting Krum on a broom would give him an advantage, especially over Fleur."

"The ground, where'd you get that from?" Ron asked

"Earth, Fire, water and air are the four elements." Alicia shrugged "If it's ground it could be an obstacle course or something." she thought

"How did you get an obstacle course from the ground?" Ron questioned

"Well they could have a tunnel, but the ground means going against things that live on it, sort of like you have to get past those that live in the lake." Alicia shrugged "They could have a mud pit, or a sort of wizard motorbike track." Ron looked confused "Motorbikes are a type of vehicle, like cars but they only have two wheels." she said

"What would they do in a mud pit?" Ron asked

"I don't know, find a way through it, could have some density charm on it or…" she stopped and Ron and Hermione looked at Alicia before her eyes suddenly closed and she collapsed in her chair.

"Alicia!" Hermione gasped and moved over to her, Ron had stood up as well.

"Vot is it?"

Alicia looked around to find herself near the trees, a little ways past Hagrid's hut and the Beauxbaton's carriage. She saw Harry beside her, standing next to Krum.

"Oh great." she grumbled with a huff and Harry glanced to his side

"Yeah. I'm here again." she admitted "Only this time, I wasn't asleep." _Bet I passed out…_ she grumbled.

And then she realised what was happening, Harry had his wand pointed at the trees as a man staggered out from behind a tall oak. Alicia stared at him before her eyes widened. It was Mr. Crouch.

"Mr Crouch!" she gasped

He looked as though he had been traveling for days. The knees of his robes were ripped and bloody, his face scratched; he was unshaven and grey with exhaustion. His neat hair and moustache were both in need of a wash and a trim. His strange appearance, however, was nothing to the way he was behaving. Muttering and gesticulating, Mr. Crouch appeared to be talking to someone that he alone could see.

"Vosn't he a judge?" said Krum, staring at Mr. Crouch. "Isn't he vith your Ministry?"

Harry nodded, hesitated for a moment, then walked slowly toward Mr. Crouch, who did not look at him, but continued to talk to a nearby tree.

"… and when you've done that, Weatherby, send an owl to Dumbledore confirming the number of Durmstrang students who will be attending the tournament, Karkaroff has just sent word there will be twelve…"

"Mr. Crouch?" said Harry cautiously.

"Shh," Alicia said, she'd walked forwards beside him as she listened intently to what Mr Crouch was saying.

"… and then send another owl to Madame Maxime, because she might want to up the number of students she's bringing, now Karkaroff's made it a round dozen … do that, Weatherby, will you? Will you? Will…"

 _He thinks he's talking to Percy… about arranging the Triwizard cup… but… that would have been last summer…_ Alicia thought confused _Why on earth would he…_

Mr. Crouch's eyes were bulging. He stood staring at the tree, muttering soundlessly at it. Then he staggered sideways and fell to his knees.

"Mr. Crouch?" Harry said loudly. "Are you all right?"

Crouch's eyes were rolling in his head. Harry looked around at Krum, who had followed him into the trees, and was looking down at Crouch in alarm.

"Vot is wrong with him?"

"No idea," Harry muttered. "Listen, you'd better go and get someone —"

"Dumbledore!" gasped Mr. Crouch. He reached out and seized a handful of Harry's robes, dragging him closer, though his eyes were staring over Harry's head. "I need… see… Dumbledore…"

"Okay," said Harry, "if you get up, Mr. Crouch, we can go up to the —"

"I've done… stupid… thing…" Mr. Crouch breathed. He looked utterly mad. His eyes were rolling and bulging, and a trickle of spittle was sliding down his chin. Every word he spoke seemed to cost him a terrible effort. "Must… tell… Dumbledore…"

"Get up, Mr. Crouch," said Harry loudly and clearly. "Get up, I'll take you to Dumbledore!"

Mr. Crouch's eyes rolled forward onto Harry.

"Who… you?" he whispered.

"I'm a student at the school," said Harry, looking around at Krum for some help, but Krum was hanging back, looking extremely nervous.

"You're not… _his_?" whispered Crouch, his mouth sagging.

"No," said Harry, without the faintest idea what Crouch was talking about.

"Dumbledore's?"

"That's right," said Harry.

Crouch was pulling him closer; Harry tried to loosen Crouch's grip on his robes, but it was too powerful.

"Warn… Dumbledore…"

"I'll get Dumbledore if you let go of me," said Harry. "Just let go, Mr. Crouch, and I'll get him…"

"Thank you, Weatherby, and when you have done that, I would like a cup of tea. My wife and son will be arriving shortly, we are attending a concert tonight with Mr. and Mrs. Fudge."

Crouch was now talking fluently to a tree again, and seemed completely unaware that Harry was there.

Alicia was kneeling before Crouch watching him as Harry stared surprised.

"Yes, my son has recently gained twelve O.W.L.s, most satisfactory, yes, thank you, yes, very proud indeed. Now, if you could bring me that memo from the Andorran Minister of Magic, I think I will have time to draft a response…"

"You stay here with him!" Harry said to Krum. "I'll get Dumbledore, I'll be quicker, I know where his office is —"

"He is mad," said Krum doubtfully, staring down at Crouch, who was still gabbling to the tree, apparently convinced it was Percy.

"Just stay with him," said Harry, starting to get up, but his movement seemed to trigger another abrupt change in Mr. Crouch, who seized him hard around the knees and pulled Harry back to the ground.

"Don't… leave… me!" he whispered, his eyes bulging again. "I… escaped… must warn… must tell… see Dumbledore… my fault… all my fault… Bertha… dead… all my fault… my son… my fault… tell Dumbledore… Harry Potter… the Dark Lord… stronger… Harry Potter…"

"I'll get Dumbledore if you let me go, Mr. Crouch!" said Harry. He looked furiously around at Krum. "Help me, will you?"

Looking extremely apprehensive, Krum moved forward and squatted down next to Mr. Crouch.

"Just keep him here," said Harry, pulling himself free of Mr. Crouch. "I'll be back with Dumbledore."

"I'll be quicker if I can wake up." Alicia stood up and pinched herself. But nothing happened.

 _I need to wake up._ she thought and closed her eyes

"Wake up." she chanted "Wake up. Wake up."

"Hurry, von't you?" Krum called after him as Harry sprinted away from the forest and up through the dark grounds.

"Wake up!" Alicia shouted at herself and she went as far as to hit her own cheek.

Alicia jerked up and suddenly her forehead was throbbing painfully. She opened her eyes, rubbing her forehead to see Ron doing the same, he'd apparently been leaning over her and she'd bashed his head with her own.

"Alicia are you alright?" Hermione asked looking panicked

"Mr Crouch…" Alicia muttered "In the forest…!" she said suddenly and got up from her chair to run from the room.

"What is this rubbish?" Snape's voice sounded. "What are you talking about?"

"Mr. Crouch!" Harry shouted. "From the Ministry! He's ill or something — he's in the forest, he wants to see Dumbledore! Just give me the password up to —"

"The headmaster is busy, Potter," said Snape, his thin mouth curling into an unpleasant smile.

"I've got to tell Dumbledore!" Harry yelled.

Alicia ran around the corner and saw Harry and Snape in front of the gargoyle that led to the headmaster's office.

"Didn't you hear me, Potter?" Snape seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself, denying Harry the thing he wanted when he was so panicky.

"Harry!" Snape and Harry turned to see Alicia running towards them.

"Crouch right?" she asked and Harry nodded

"Evans?" Snape asked

"We need to see Dumbledore. Mr Crouch was out in the forest, this isn't time for your stupid hatred for Harry, Crouch was muttering about Voldemort getting strong again." Snape looked pale all of a sudden and looked between them both as though he was about to rip them both through for thinking such a thing.

"Look," said Harry angrily, "Crouch isn't right — he's — he's out of his mind — he says he wants to warn —"

The stone wall behind Snape slid open. Dumbledore was standing there, wearing long green robes and a mildly curious expression.

"Is there a problem?" he said, looking between Alicia, Harry and Snape.

"Yes!" Alicia said immediately

"Professor!" Harry said, sidestepping Snape before Snape could speak, "Mr. Crouch is here — he's down in the forest, he wants to speak to you!"

"Lead the way," he said promptly, and he swept off along the corridor behind Harry, leaving Snape standing next to the gargoyle and looking twice as ugly.

"What did Mr. Crouch say, Harry?" said Dumbledore as they walked swiftly down the marble staircase.

"Said he wants to warn you… said he's done something terrible… he mentioned his son… and Bertha Jorkins… and — and Voldemort… something about Voldemort getting stronger…"

"Indeed," said Dumbledore, and he quickened his pace as they hurried out into the pitch-darkness.

"He's not acting normally," Harry said, hurrying along beside Dumbledore. "He doesn't seem to know where he is. He keeps talking like he thinks Percy Weasley's there, and then he changes, and says he needs to see you… I left him with Viktor Krum."

"You did?" said Dumbledore sharply, and he began to take longer strides still, so that Alicia and Harry were running to keep up. "Do you know if anybody else saw Mr. Crouch?"

"No," said Harry. "Krum and I were talking, Mr. Bagman had just finished telling us about the third task, we stayed behind, and then we saw Mr. Crouch coming out of the forest —"

"Professor, I think he was under the imperious curse." Alicia suddenly said and both Harry and Dumbledore looked at her, Harry with surprise.

"He couldn't remember were he was, he mentioned something that happened when his son and wife were still alive and they were going to a theatre to celebrate his son getting 12 O. between that he snapped out to tell Harry these things and about warning you…" she explained "His mind and memories were all confused and he said he'd escaped."

Dumbledore seemed to study her for a long moment before he looked around as they past the Beauxbaton's carriage.

"Where are they?" said Dumbledore as the Beauxbatons carriage emerged from the darkness.

"Over here," said Harry, moving in front of Dumbledore, leading the way through the trees. Crouch's voice couldn't be heard anymore.

"It was just past the Beauxbaton's carriage." Alicia muttered

"Viktor?" Harry shouted.

No one answered.

"They were here," Harry said to Dumbledore. "They were definitely somewhere around here…"

"Maybe leaving them alone wasn't smart…" Alicia muttered "Crouch said he's escaped after all…"

" _Lumos,_ " Dumbledore said, lighting his wand and holding it up. Its narrow beam traveled from black trunk to black trunk, illuminating the ground. And then it fell upon a pair of feet.

Harry, Alicia and Dumbledore hurried forward. Krum was sprawled on the forest floor. He seemed to be unconscious. There was no sign at all of Mr. Crouch. Dumbledore bent over Krum and gently lifted one of his eyelids.

"Stunned," he said softly. His half-moon glasses glittered in the wandlight as he peered around at the surrounding trees.

"I guess that's still proof." Alicia muttered as she looked around the dark trees.

"Should I go and get someone?" said Harry. "Madam Pomfrey?"

"No," said Dumbledore swiftly. "Stay here."

He raised his wand into the air and pointed it in the direction of Hagrid's cabin. Harry saw something silvery dart out of it and streak away through the trees like a ghostly bird. Alicia noticed it as a patronus and smiled as it looked like Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix. Then Dumbledore bent over Krum again, pointed his wand at him, and muttered, " _Rennervate._ "

Krum opened his eyes. He looked dazed. When he saw Dumbledore, he tried to sit up, but Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder and made him lie still.

"He attacked me!" Krum muttered, putting a hand up to his head. "The old madman attacked me! I vos looking around to see vare Potter had gone and he attacked from behind!"

"Lie still for a moment," Dumbledore said.

The sound of thunderous footfalls reached them, and Hagrid came panting into sight with Fang at his heels. He was carrying his crossbow.

"Professor Dumbledore!" he said, his eyes widening. "Harry, Alicia — what the — ?"

"Hagrid, I need you to fetch Professor Karkaroff," said Dumbledore. "His student has been attacked. When you've done that, kindly alert Professor Moody —"

"No need, Dumbledore," said a wheezy growl. "I'm here."

Moody was limping toward them, leaning on his staff, his wand lit.

Alicia's eyes narrowed as she looked at him. How the hell did he get here so quickly…? And how the hell did he even know where they were?

"Damn leg," he said furiously. "Would've been here quicker… what's happened? Snape said something about Crouch —"

 _As if Snape would tell you of all people anything… He doesn't like you…?_ Alicia thought

"Crouch?" said Hagrid blankly.

"Karkaroff, please, Hagrid!" said Dumbledore sharply.

"Oh yeah… right y'are, Professor…" said Hagrid, and he turned and disappeared into the dark trees, Fang trotting after him.

"I don't know where Barty Crouch is," Dumbledore told Moody, "but it is essential that we find him."

"I'm onto it," growled Moody, and he pulled out his wand and limped off into the forest

Alicia stared after him with narrowed eyes, scrutinising him.

"Alicia?" Dumbledore had noticed her staring after the ex-Aurur.

"I'm sorry Professor, whether you trust him or not… everything that's happened at this school since I've gotten here has had something to do with the defence against the dark art's teacher… Ex-Aurur or not, Moody gives me a bad feeling, he makes my skin crawl." she muttered and turned to the Headmaster "I don't like him. I got the same feeling from Quirrell."

The three turned as they heard Hagrid's thundering feet sound as he and Fang returned, Karkaroff unfortunately with them.

"What is this?" he cried when he saw Krum on the ground and Dumbledore and Harry beside him. "What's going on?"

"I vos attacked!" said Krum, sitting up now and rubbing his head. "Mr. Crouch or votever his name —"

"Crouch attacked you? _Crouch_ attacked you? The Triwizard judge?"

"Igor," Dumbledore began, but Karkaroff had drawn himself up, clutching his furs around him, looking livid.

"Treachery!" he bellowed, pointing at Dumbledore. "It is a plot! You and your Ministry of Magic have lured me here under false pretences, Dumbledore! This is not an equal competition! First you sneak Potter into the tournament, though he is underage! Now one of your Ministry friends attempts to put _my_ champion out of action! I smell double-dealing and corruption in this whole affair, and you, Dumbledore, you, with your talk of closer international wizarding links, of rebuilding old ties, of forgetting old differences — here's what I think of _you_!"

Karkaroff spat onto the ground at Dumbledore's feet. In one swift movement, Hagrid seized the front of Karkaroff's furs, lifted him into the air, and slammed him against a nearby tree.

"Apologise!" Hagrid snarled as Karkaroff gasped for breath, Hagrid's massive fist at his throat, his feet dangling in midair.

"Hagrid, _no_!" Dumbledore shouted, his eyes flashing.

Hagrid removed the hand pinning Karkaroff to the tree, and Karkaroff slid all the way down the trunk and slumped in a huddle at its roots; a few twigs and leaves showered down upon his head.

"Kindly escort Harry and Alicia back up to the castle, Hagrid," said Dumbledore sharply.

Breathing heavily, Hagrid gave Karkaroff a glowering look.

"Maybe I'd better stay here, Headmaster…"

"You will take Harry and Alicia back to school, Hagrid," Dumbledore repeated firmly. "Take them right up to Gryffindor Tower. And Harry — I want you to stay there. Both of you. Anything you might want to do — any owls you might want to send — they can wait until morning, do you understand me?"

Alicia knew immediately that he meant Sirius and she cocked an eyebrow, had he been watching them communicate with Sirius or was he doing the same thing?

"Er — yes," said Harry, staring at him.

"I'll leave Fang with yeh, Headmaster," Hagrid said, staring menacingly at Karkaroff, who was still sprawled at the foot of the tree, tangled in furs and tree roots. "Stay, Fang. C'mon, Harry, Alicia."

They marched in silence past the Beauxbatons carriage and up toward the castle.

"How dare he," Hagrid growled as they strode past the lake. "How dare he accuse Dumbledore. Like Dumbledore'd do anythin' like that. Like Dumbledore wanted _you_ in the tournament in the firs' place. Worried! I dunno when I seen Dumbledore more worried than he's bin lately. An' you!" Hagrid suddenly said angrily to Harry, who looked up at him, taken aback. "What were yeh doin', wanderin' off with ruddy Krum? He's from Durmstrang, Harry! Coulda jinxed yeh right there, couldn' he? Hasn' Moody taught yeh nothin'? 'Magine lettin' him lure yeh off on yer own —"

"Hagrid try not to take your anger out on those you don't know." Alicia said annoyed as she chewed her tongue thinking.

"Krum's all right!" said Harry as they climbed the steps into the entrance hall. "He wasn't trying to jinx me, he just wanted to talk about Hermione —"

"I'll be havin' a few words with her, an' all," said Hagrid grimly, stomping up the stairs. "The less you lot 'ave ter do with these foreigners, the happier yeh'll be. Yeh can' trust any of 'em."

"Coming from you." Alicia snapped and Harry seemed to catch her drift.

"You were getting on all right with Madame Maxime," Harry said, annoyed.

"Don' you talk ter me abou' her!" said Hagrid, and he looked quite frightening for a moment. "I've got her number now! Tryin' ter get back in me good books, tryin' ter get me ter tell her what's comin' in the third task. Ha! You can' trust any of 'em!"

Hagrid was in such a bad mood, Harry was quite glad to say good-bye to him in front of the Fat Lady. He and Alicia clambered through the portrait hole into the common room and hurried straight for the corner where Ron and Hermione were sitting.

"Alicia!" Hermione pulled her into a hug

"Are you alright?" Ron asked

"I'm fine." Harry raised an eyebrow at her "I passed out this time." she rolled her eyes

"This time?"

"It's a long story, and that's not the important bit." Alicia waved it off

"Mr Crouch was in the forest!" Harry jumped in quietly, earning a gasp from them both.

"What?!"

"He was mad!" Harry said, and he went on to tell them exactly what had happened.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28:

"It comes down to this," said Hermione, rubbing her forehead. "Either Mr. Crouch attacked Viktor, or somebody else attacked both of them when Viktor wasn't looking."

"It must've been Crouch," said Ron at once. "That's why he was gone when Harry and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner."

"I don't think so," said Harry, shaking his head. "He seemed really weak — I don't reckon he was up to Disapparating or anything."

"You _can't_ Disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds, haven't I told you enough times?" said Hermione.

"Okay… how's this for a theory," said Ron excitedly. "Krum attacked Crouch — no, wait for it — and then Stunned himself!"

"And Mr. Crouch evaporated, did he?" said Hermione coldly.

"Oh yeah…"

It was daybreak. Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had crept out of their dormitories very early and hurried up to the Owlery together to send a note to Sirius. Now they were standing looking out at the misty grounds. All three of them were puffy-eyed and pale because they had been talking late into the night about Mr. Crouch. Alicia was the only one not staring over the grounds, but pacing back and forth behind her three friends.

"Just go through it again, Harry," said Hermione. "What did Mr. Crouch actually say?"

"I've told you, he wasn't making much sense," said Harry. "He said he wanted to warn Dumbledore about something. He definitely mentioned Bertha Jorkins, and he seemed to think she was dead. He kept saying stuff was his fault… He mentioned his son."

"Well, that _was_ his fault," said Hermione testily.

"He was out of his mind," said Harry. "Half the time he seemed to think his wife and son were still alive, and he kept talking to Percy about work and giving him instructions."

"And… remind me what he said about You-Know-Who?" said Ron tentatively.

"I've told you," Harry repeated dully. "He said he's getting stronger."

There was a pause. Then Ron said in a falsely confident voice, "But he was out of his mind, like you said, so half of it was probably just raving…"

"He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort," said Harry, and Ron winced at the sound of the name. "He was having real trouble stringing two words together, but that was when he seemed to know where he was, and know what he wanted to do. He just kept saying he had to see Dumbledore."

Harry turned away from the window and stared up into the rafters. The many perches were half-empty; every now and then, another owl would swoop in through one of the windows, returning from its night's hunting with a mouse in its beak.

"Alicia what do you make of it?" Hermione asked looking at her, Alicia didn't even look up.

"Well, frankly, despite his unfinished sentences he did make some sense." Alicia shrugged, not stopping in her pacing.

"How?" Ron demanded

"He said Bertha Tonkin's was dead? How would he know?"

"She is dead." Alicia frowned "Has been since summer." Hermione, Ron and Harry looked at her shocked "Though it's not reliable evidence." she was biting her lip.

"Alicia, how would you know that?" Hermione demanded shrilly

"Harry and I had a dream at the beginning of the year, remember Harry telling you both about it?" they nodded "I had it too, at the same time, on the same night, about the same thing, only I remember it. Don't ask me why but I do. And in it Voldemort talked about how he had to kill Bertha Jonkins. If we're going to think such a dream was real, which Sirius and I believe it is, then yeah she's dead."

"Why didn't you tell us this?" Hermione asked looked between Harry and Alicia

"Well we ended up at Ron's house and then there was the World Cup and the Dark Mark and Harry's wand, and then school…" Alicia listed "Too many things got in the way."

"That doesn't explain how Crouch made sense?"

"Bertha's dead, I don't know how he'd know that if it wasn't true. I am still sitting on the theory he was under the imperius curse, or had been for months now, probably why Percy's receiving letters but he hasn't been coming in and it would explain his attire, he'd be too weak from fighting the curse to Disapperate even near the Hogwarts boundary and so he'd need to walk. He definitely looked like he'd walked a long way." Alicia said

"He's clearly done something and that's why he's blaming himself, he mentioned his son but I don't think he was talking about his son's death… obviously it's a secret he kept which might be what Winky was going on about, some secret. Crouch seems to think that what ever his secret is it's going to help Voldemort get stronger and Harry's in danger…" Alicia paused.

"What?" Hermione thought

"Mine and Harry's dream… Voldemort and Wormtail were talking about a devoted servant that was going to use Harry who'd be at Hogwarts…" Alicia explained "I've been thinking about it every time someone brings up the person who put his name in the cup… Some how, Crouch knows who put Harry's name is, that's why he's blaming himself… maybe this person had something to do with his son… and maybe they're also a faithful servant of Voldemort's. I mean…" Alicia paused, she remembered that weird dream of being in someone's kitchen, a man bowing down to her and his mouth moving wordlessly.

She shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Why is this happening…? It was a dream!" she whispered "I don't understand why any of this is happening…" Harry, Hermione and Ron looked at one another, unsure whether to believe Alicia or not, though everything she said fit in perfectly, just like it usually did.

"That one piece of information will tell us who this faithful servant is but how do we find out how they got into Hogwarts?" Alicia demanded "Hogwarts is protected… though Rita Skeeter's doing it… but if they want to act they couldn't stay an animal…" Alicia's voice was barely audible as she'd begun to pace again.

Harry sighed and turned back to the window.

"If Snape hadn't held me up," Harry said bitterly, "we might've got there in time. 'The headmaster is busy, Potter… what's this rubbish, Potter?' Why couldn't he have just got out of the way?"

"Maybe he didn't want you to get there!" said Ron quickly. "Maybe — hang on — how fast d'you reckon he could've gotten down to the forest? D'you reckon he could've beaten you and Dumbledore there?"

"Not unless he can turn himself into a bat or something," said Harry.

"Wouldn't put it past him," Ron muttered.

"We need to see Professor Moody," said Hermione. "We need to find out whether he found Mr. Crouch."

"If he had the Marauder's Map on him, it would've been easy," said Harry.

"Unless Crouch was already outside the grounds," said Ron, "because it only shows up to the boundaries, doesn't —"

"Shh!" said Hermione suddenly and Alicia stopped pacing.

Somebody was climbing the steps up to the Owlery. Harry could hear two voices arguing, coming closer and closer.

"— that's blackmail, that is, we could get into a lot of trouble for that —"

"— we've tried being polite; it's time to play dirty, like him. He wouldn't like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did —"

"I'm telling you, if you put that in writing, it's blackmail!"

"Yeah, and you won't be complaining if we get a nice fat payoff, will you?"

The Owlery door banged open. Fred and George came over the threshold, then froze at the sight of Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"What're you doing here?" Ron and Fred said at the same time.

"Sending a letter," said Harry and George in unison.

"What, at this time?" said Hermione and Fred.

Fred grinned and Alicia rolled her eyes before going back to her pacing.

"Fine — we won't ask you what you're doing, if you don't ask us," Fred said.

He was holding a sealed envelope in his hands. Harry glanced at it, but Fred, whether accidentally or on purpose, shifted his hand so that the name on it was covered.

"Well, don't let us hold you up," Fred said, making a mock bow and pointing at the door.

Ron didn't move.

"Who're you blackmailing?" he said.

The grin vanished from Fred's face. George half glanced at Fred, before smiling at Ron.

"Don't be stupid, I was only joking," he said easily.

"Didn't sound like that," said Ron.

Fred and George looked at each other. Then Fred said abruptly,

"I've told you before, Ron, keep your nose out if you like it the shape it is. Can't see why you would, but —"

"It's my business if you're blackmailing someone," said Ron. "George's right, you could end up in serious trouble for that."

"Told you, I was joking," said George. He walked over to Fred, pulled the letter out of his hands, and began attaching it to the leg of the nearest barn owl. "You're starting to sound a bit like our dear older brother, you are, Ron. Carry on like this and you'll be made a prefect."

"No, I won't!" said Ron hotly.

"You might with all our services to the school." Alicia muttered absentmindedly.

George carried the barn owl over to the window and it took off. George turned around and grinned at Ron.

"Well, stop telling people what to do then. See you later."

He and Fred left the Owlery. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at one another.

"You don't think they know something about all this, do you?" Hermione whispered. "About Crouch and everything?"

"No," said Harry. "If it was something that serious, they'd tell someone. They'd tell Dumbledore."

Ron, however, was looking uncomfortable.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked him.

"Well…" said Ron slowly, "I dunno if they would. They're… they're obsessed with making money lately, I noticed it when I was hanging around with them — when — you know —"

"We weren't talking." Harry finished the sentence for him. "Yeah, but blackmail…"

"It's this joke shop idea they've got," said Ron. "I thought they were only saying it to annoy Mum, but they really mean it, they want to start one. They've only got a year left at Hogwarts, they keep going on about how it's time to think about their future, and Dad can't help them, and they need gold to get started."

"That would explain the gambling…" Alicia muttered but Ron hadn't heard her.

Hermione was looking uncomfortable now.

"Yes, but… they wouldn't do anything against the law to get gold."

"Wouldn't they?" said Ron, looking skeptical. "I dunno… they don't exactly mind breaking rules, do they?"

"Yes, but this is the _law,_ " said Hermione, looking scared. "This isn't some silly school rule… They'll get a lot more than detention for blackmail! Ron… maybe you'd better tell Percy…"

"Are you mad?" said Ron. "Tell Percy? He'd probably do a Crouch and turn them in." He stared at the window through which Fred and Georges owl had departed, then said, "Come on, let's get some breakfast."

"D'you think it's too early to go and see Professor Moody?" Hermione said as they went down the spiral staircase.

"Yes," said Harry. "He'd probably blast us through the door if we wake him at the crack of dawn; he'll think we're trying to attack him while he's asleep. Let's give it till break."

"Do we have to seem him at all?" Alicia grumbled as they made it to the stairs.

"Do you want to find out what he saw?"

"Wouldn't put it past him to lie." Alicia muttered

History of Magic had rarely gone so slowly. Harry kept checking Ron's watch, having finally discarded his own, but Ron's was moving so slowly he could have sworn it had stopped working too. All four of them were so tired they could happily have put their heads down on the desks and slept; even Hermione wasn't taking her usual notes, but was sitting with her head on her hand, gazing at Professor Binns with her eyes out of focus.

When the bell finally rang, they hurried out into the corridors toward the Dark Arts classroom and found Professor Moody leaving it. He looked as tired as they felt. The eyelid of his normal eye was drooping, giving his face an even more lopsided appearance than usual.

"Professor Moody?" Harry called as they made their way toward him through the crowd.

"Hello, Potter," growled Moody. His magical eye followed a couple of passing first years, who sped up, looking nervous; it rolled into the back of Moody's head and watched them around the corner before he spoke again.

"Come in here."

He stood back to let them into his empty classroom, limped in after them, and closed the door.

"Did you find him?" Harry asked without preamble. "Mr. Crouch?"

"No," said Moody. He moved over to his desk, sat down, stretched out his wooden leg with a slight groan, and pulled out his hip flask.

"Did you use the map?" Harry said.

"Of course," said Moody, taking a swig from his flask. "Took a leaf out of your book, Potter. Summoned it from my office into the forest. He wasn't anywhere on there."

"So he _did_ Disapparate?" said Ron.

" _You can't Disapparate on the grounds, Ron_!" said Hermione. "There are other ways he could have disappeared, aren't there, Professor?"

Moody's magical eye quivered as it rested on Hermione.

"You're another one who might think about a career as an Auror," he told her. "Mind works the right way, Granger."

Hermione flushed pink with pleasure.

"You should see Alicia." Moody glanced at Alicia who was the only one who hadn't sat down. She was watching Moody carefully.

"Well, he wasn't invisible," said Harry. "The map shows invisible people. He must've left the grounds, then."

"But under his own steam?" said Hermione eagerly, "or because someone made him?"

"Yeah, someone could've — could've pulled him onto a broom and flown off with him, couldn't they?" said Ron quickly, looking hopefully at Moody as if he too wanted to be told he had the makings of an Auror.

"We can't rule out kidnap," growled Moody.

"So," said Ron, "d'you reckon he's somewhere in Hogsmeade?"

"Could be anywhere," said Moody, shaking his head. "Only thing we know for sure is that he's not here."

He yawned widely, so that his scars stretched, and his lopsided mouth revealed a number of missing teeth. Then he said, "Now, Dumbledore's told me you four fancy yourselves as investigators, but there's nothing you can do for Crouch. The Ministry'll be looking for him now, Dumbledore's notified them. Potter, you just keep your mind on the third task."

"What?" said Harry. "Oh yeah…"

"What is the third task?" Alicia asked

"A maze…"

"What's the catch?" she wondered

"Hagrid's putting monsters in it." Alicia groaned

"That'll be fun! Maybe Care of Magical creatures will come in handy." she muttered

"Should be right up your street, this one," said Moody, looking up at Harry and scratching his scarred and stubbly chin. "From what Dumbledore's said, you've managed to get through stuff like this plenty of times. Broke your way through a series of obstacles guarding the Philosopher's Stone in your first year, didn't you?"

"We helped," Ron said quickly. "Me, Alicia and Hermione helped." Moody grinned.

"Well, help him practice for this one, and I'll be very surprised if he doesn't win," said Moody. "In the meantime… constant vigilance, Potter. Constant vigilance." He took another long draw from his hip flask, and his magical eye swivelled onto the window. The topmost sail of the Durmstrang ship was visible through it.

"You three," counselled Moody, his normal eye on Alicia, Ron and Hermione, "you stick close to Potter, all right? I'm keeping an eye on things, but all the same… you can never have too many eyes out."

* * *

Sirius sent their owl back the very next morning. It fluttered down beside Harry at the same moment that a tawny owl landed in front of Hermione, clutching a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ in its beak. She took the newspaper, scanned the first few pages, said, "Ha! She hasn't got wind of Crouch!" then joined Ron, Alicia and Harry in reading what Sirius had to say on the mysterious events of the night before last.

 _Harry — what do you think you are playing at, walking off into the forest with Viktor Krum? I want you to swear, by return owl, that you are not going to go walking with anyone else at night._

"Technically I was with you." Alicia muttered

 _There is somebody highly dangerous at Hogwarts. It is clear to me that they wanted to stop Crouch from seeing Dumbledore and you were probably feet away from them in the dark. You could have been killed._

 _Your name didn't get into the Goblet of Fire by accident. If someone's trying to attack you, they're on their last chance. Stay close to Alicia, Ron and Hermione, do not leave Gryffindor Tower after hours, and arm yourself for the third task. Practice Stunning and Disarming. A few hexes wouldn't go amiss either. There's nothing you can do about Crouch. Keep your head down and look after yourself. I'm waiting for your letter giving me your word you won't stray out-of-bounds again._

"Who's he, to lecture me about being out-of-bounds?" said Harry in mild indignation as he folded up Sirius's letter and put it inside his robes. "After all the stuff he did at school!"

"He didn't have someone wanting to kill him." Alicia said strongly

"Lupin?"

"Doesn't nearly count, Lupin didn't _want_ to kill him." Alicia pointed out strongly

"He's worried about you!" said Hermione sharply. "Just like Moody and Hagrid! So listen to them!"

"No one's tried to attack me all year," said Harry. "No one's done anything to me at all —"

"Except put your name in the Goblet of Fire," said Hermione. "And they must've done that for a reason, Harry. Snuffles is right. Maybe they've been biding their time. Maybe this is the task they're going to get you."

"Maybe there's something _about_ the task itself." Alicia added

"Look," said Harry impatiently, "let's say Sirius is right, and someone Stunned Krum to kidnap Crouch. Well, they _would've_ been in the trees near us, wouldn't they? But they waited till I was out of the way until they acted, didn't they? So it doesn't look like I'm their target, does it?"

"Because they have plans for you!" Alicia snapped

"They couldn't have made it look like an accident if they'd murdered you in the forest!" said Hermione. "But if you die during a task —"

"They didn't care about attacking Krum, did they?" said Harry. "Why didn't they just polish me off at the same time? They could've made it look like Krum and I had a duel or something."

"Krum's your competition." Alicia shrugged "There's something about this tournament that someone is using to get to you."

"Harry, I don't understand it either," said Hermione desperately. "I just know there are a lot of odd things going on, and I don't like it… Moody's right — Sirius is right — you've got to get in training for the third task, straight away. And you make sure you write back to Sirius and promise him you're not going to go sneaking off alone again."

* * *

For the next few days Harry spent all of his free time either in the library with Alicia, Hermione and Ron, looking up hexes, or else in empty classrooms, which they sneaked into to practice. Harry was concentrating on the Stunning Spell, which he had never used before. The trouble was that practicing it involved certain sacrifices on Ron's and Hermione's part.

Alicia, having been the genius with spells between the four of them, was helping him to master them. She'd taken quite a bit of pride out of her stunning technique. Luckily, she also knew the counter spell for a stunning spell, in which she could wake Hermione and Ron up with.

"Can't we kidnap Mrs. Norris?" Ron suggested on Monday lunchtime as he lay flat on his back in the middle of their Charms classroom, having just been Stunned and reawoken by Harry for the fifth time in a row. "Let's Stun her for a bit. Or you could use Dobby, Harry, I bet he'd do anything to help you. I'm not complaining or anything" — he got gingerly to his feet, rubbing his backside — "but I'm aching all over…"

"Well, you keep missing the cushions, don't you!" said Hermione impatiently, rearranging the pile of cushions they had used for the Banishing Spell, which Flitwick had left in a cabinet. "Just try and fall backward!"

"Once you're Stunned, you can't aim too well, Hermione!" said Ron angrily. "Why don't you take a turn?"

"Well, I think Harry's got it now, anyway," said Hermione hastily. "And we don't have to worry about Disarming, because he's been able to do that for ages… I think we ought to start on some of these hexes this evening."

"I was thinking that a protection charm would be smart as well." Alicia said strongly.

"What monster's going to throw a spell back at Harry?" Ron asked, Alicia rolled her eyes

"Well if someone is going to get at Harry then wouldn't it be better to get one of the other champions to do it instead? Plus _Protego_ is very useful anyway." she said

"I guess that's good point…" Hermione muttered

She looked down the list they had made in the library.

"I like the look of this one," she said, "this Impediment Curse. Should slow down anything that's trying to attack you, Harry. We'll start with that one."

The bell rang. They hastily shoved the cushions back into Flitwick's cupboard and slipped out of the classroom.

"See you at dinner!" said Hermione, and she set off for Arithmancy, dragging Alicia, while Harry and Ron headed toward North Tower, and Divination.

"What's been going on with you?" Hermione asked, "You still haven't explained what happened the night Crouch was here?"

"That'a cause it's a long story and we're currently busy." Alicia said simply "Now shall we pay attention or…?" Alicia began. Hermione pursed her lips.

"Later then." she decided before turning towards the professor.

They hadn't made it half way through the lesson before a knock sounded. The door opened to reveal Harry.

Alicia and Hermione shared a confused look as Harry moved to the desk.

"Miss Evans." She called Alicia looked at Hermione who was giving her the 'tell me everything later' look and Alicia nodded before walking to the desk.

"Mr Potter here says the headmaster wishes to see you both." Alicia raised her eyebrow and glanced at Harry.

"Thank you professor." Alicia collected her things and moved with Harry into the corridor.

"Alright what's up?"

"I had another dream and my scar was hurting." Harry explained

"What happened?" Alicia asked immediately as they walked

"Wormtail was being tortured for doing something, Voldemort said his mistake hadn't costed them anything but…" Harry rubbed his scar "Snuffles said the next time my scar hurts to go to Dumbledore, seeing as you had the same dream, figured we should at least both go." Alicia nodded

"Good idea." she agreed "Only we don't know the password to Dumbledore's office?"

"Well, we're gonna have to try." Harry muttered, earning a roll of the eyes from Alicia.

"So what else did Voldemort say?" Alicia asked

"Something about Wormtail's mistake being dead…"

"So Wormtail made a mistake that resulted in death? Think Wormtail accidentally let someone slip through his fingers?" Alicia wondered

"Maybe? I mean he's now dead…" Alicia stopped him and Harry looked at her

"Crouch." she muttered and Harry looked confused

"What about him?"

"Don't you think it's odd that Crouch says he's escaped, disappears and then you have a vision of Voldemort blaming Wormtail for a mistake he made in which death was the only answer? Plus Crouch was talking about Voldemort getting stronger and needing you, something he'd only know if he was with Voldemort…"

"You don't think Voldemort would kidnap a ministry wizard?"

"They killed Bertha, plus they kept Crouch sending letters in to keep the suspicion down."

"Why?"

"Voldemort's weak and Wormtail is too cowardly to protect him, if the Ministry knew he was plotting something they'd take him down and he'd definitely be done for, especially as at the end of our second year Dumbledore let it slip he knew Voldemort's whereabouts… I wonder why they haven't done anything…?" she muttered thinking that getting rid of Voldemort once and for all would be a top priority no matter what.

Harry didn't have an answer to Alicia, he knew better than to argue with her logic, no matter how outspoken it seemed.

They stayed in silence for the remainder of the walk before the two stopped in front of Dumbledore's office, well, Alicia did and grabbed Harry's robes to stop him from walking past it.

"Now what?" she asked

"Sherbet lemon?" he tried tentatively.

The gargoyle did not move.

"You do remember that was the password from two years ago right? Our password changes every term, you think his wont?" Alicia wondered

"Okay," said Harry, staring at it, "Pear Drop. Er — Licorice Wand. Fizzing Whizbee. Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans… oh no, he doesn't like them, does he?… oh just open, can't you?" he said angrily. "I really need to see him, it's urgent!" Alicia watched, waiting as the gargoyle remained immovable.

Harry kicked it, achieving nothing but an excruciating pain in his big toe.

"Chocolate Frog!" he yelled angrily, standing on one leg. "Sugar Quill! Cockroach Cluster!"

The gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside.

Harry blinked.

"Cockroach Cluster?" he said, amazed. "I was only joking…"

"Don't argue, let's go." Alicia grabbed Harry's wrist and dragged him through the gap in the walls and stepped onto the foot of a spiral stone staircase, which moved slowly upward as the doors closed behind them, taking them up to a polished oak door with a brass door knocker.

The two could hear voices from inside the office as they stepped off the moving staircase. Both stopped and listened, hesitating.

"Dumbledore, I'm afraid I don't see the connection, don't see it at all!" It was the voice of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. "Ludo says Bertha's perfectly capable of getting herself lost. I agree we would have expected to have found her by now, but all the same, we've no evidence of foul play, Dumbledore, none at all. As for her disappearance being linked with Barty Crouch's!"

"And what do you thinks happened to Barty Crouch, Minister?" said Moody's growling voice.

"I see two possibilities, Alastor," said Fudge. "Either Crouch has finally cracked — more than likely, I'm sure you'll agree, given his personal history — lost his mind, and gone wandering off some-where —"

"He wandered extremely quickly, if that is the case, Cornelius," said Dumbledore calmly.

"Or else — well…" Fudge sounded embarrassed. "Well, I'll reserve judgment until after I've seen the place where he was found, but you say it was just past the Beauxbatons carriage? Dumbledore, you know what that woman _is_?"

"I consider her to be a very able headmistress — and an excellent dancer," said Dumbledore quietly.

"Dumbledore, come!" said Fudge angrily. "Don't you think you might be prejudiced in her favour because of Hagrid? They don't all turn out harmless — if, indeed, you can call Hagrid harmless, with that monster fixation he's got —"

"I no more suspect Madame Maxime than Hagrid," said Dumbledore, just as calmly. "I think it possible that it is you who are prejudiced, Cornelius."

"Can we wrap up this discussion?" growled Moody.

"Yes, yes, let's go down to the grounds, then," said Fudge impatiently.

"No, it's not that," said Moody, "it's just that Potter and Evans want a word with you, Dumbledore. They're just outside the door."

"Curse that eye of his." Alicia muttered, slightly embarrassed.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29:

The door of the office opened.

"Hello, Potter, Evans," said Moody. "Come in, then."

Alicia and Harry walked inside. Both had been inside Dumbledore's office once before; it was a very beautiful, circular room, lined with pictures of previous headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts, all of whom were fast asleep, their chests rising and falling gently.

Cornelius Fudge was standing beside Dumbledore's desk, wearing his usual pinstriped cloak and holding his lime-green bowler hat.

"Harry!" said Fudge jovially, moving forward.

"How are you?"

"Fine," Harry lied.

"Alicia?"

"Been better."

"We were just talking about the night when Mr. Crouch turned up on the grounds," said Fudge. "It was you who found him, was it not?"

"Yes," said Harry. He looked at Alicia who didn't bother to share his glance, if he wanted to tell them she was there too, then it wasn't a technical lie. "I didn't see Madame Maxime anywhere, though, and she'd have a job hiding, wouldn't she?"

Dumbledore smiled at Harry behind Fudge's back, his eyes twinkling.

"Yes, well," said Fudge, looking embarrassed, "we're about to go for a short walk on the grounds, Harry, if you'll excuse us… perhaps if you both just go back to your class —"

"I wanted to talk to you, Professor," Harry said quickly, looking at Dumbledore, who gave him a swift, searching look.

"It's kind of important… I think." Alicia looked at Harry who nodded.

"Wait here for me, Alicia, Harry," he said. "Our examination of the grounds will not take long."

They trooped out in silence past them and closed the door. After a minute or so, Harry heard the clunks of Moody's wooden leg growing fainter in the corridor below. Alicia moved through the room while Harry looked around.

"Hello, Fawkes," he said. Alicia had moved to pet the magnificent bird.

Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore's phoenix, was standing on his golden perch beside the door. The size of a swan, with magnificent scarlet-and-gold plumage, he swished his long tail and blinked benignly at Harry.

Harry sat down in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk while Alicia walked around inspecting instruments the Headmaster had.

"Are we going to tell him about your strange ghost moments?" Harry asked randomly

"Yes." Alicia admitted "I think we should anyway, find out if it is from our cursed bond or what ever."

Harry had no answer. For several minutes he sat and watched the old headmasters and headmistresses snoozing in their frames.

Alicia looked around as he did so, wondering how she was going to explain her strange 'out-of-body' moments. Her eyes fell on the patched and ragged Sorting Hat that was standing on a shelf. A glass case next to it held a magnificent silver sword with large rubies set into the hilt, which was the one Harry himself had pulled out of the Sorting Hat in his second year. The sword had once belonged to Godric Gryffindor, founder of Alicia and Harry's House. Alicia was distracted as Harry suddenly got up from his seat. He walked across the office, and pulled open the cabinet door.

"What are you doing?" Alicia hissed as she walked over to him.

Both twins looked down at the shallow stone basin that lay there, with odd carvings around the edge: runes and symbols. A silvery light was coming from the basin's contents, which was a strange substance, indistinguishable as a liquid or gas. It was a bright, whitish silver, and it was moving ceaselessly; the surface of it became ruffled like water beneath wind, and then, like clouds, separated and swirled smoothly. It looked like light made liquid — or like wind made solid.

"It's a pensieve…" Alicia muttered

"A what?"

"Pensieve." Alicia repeated but Harry still didn't understand. "You can take memories from your mind when you find your head cluttered and store them. If you wish to view them again you can re-watch them, as though you're reliving the moment."

"How do you know?"

"I read thank you very much." Alicia murmured annoyed "I think I want to get one at some stage, be really useful…"

The two stared down at the basin and Alicia looked at Harry who bit his lip.

"Don't touch it." Alicia suddenly said and Harry looked annoyed

"I'm not."

"You thought about it." she muttered.

"I think I've learnt not to do such a thing." he muttered, instead he pulled his wand out of the inside of his robes, cast a nervous look around the office, looked back at the contents of the basin, and prodded them.

The surface of the silvery stuff inside the basin began to swirl very fast.

Harry bent closer, his head right inside the cabinet, Alicia grabbed the back of his robes.

"Be careful." she muttered when he looked at her confused.

The silvery substance however had become transparent; it looked like glass.

"You're not curious?"

"I know how these work remember," she muttered

"Then what's the substance?"

"Kind of hard to explain."

"And you don't want to see what this is?" Alicia pursed her lips, not being able to deny that. Harry bent closer again, looking. Alicia, unable to contain her curiosity, leaned forwards too and both looked for the bottom of the basin, only, instead both saw an enormous room below the surface of the mysterious substance, a room into which they seemed to be looking through a circular window in the ceiling.

The room was dimly lit; it might even be underground, for there were no windows, merely torches in brackets such as the ones that illuminated the walls of Hogwarts. Harry, against Alicia's wishes, lowered his face so that his nose was a mere inch away from the glassy substance. He was able to see that there were rows and rows of witches and wizards seated around every wall on what seemed to be benches rising in levels. An empty chair stood in the very centre of the room. There was something about the chair that gave Harry an ominous feeling. Chains encircled the arms of it, as though its occupants were usually tied to it.

"What is this place?" Harry hardly whispered

"Looks like a court room…" Alicia answered as she watched behind Harry

"Court room?"

"This will be one of Dumbledore's memories, they're sort of private and we shouldn't watch it…"

"Watch it?" Harry asked, naturally though hadn't moved his face away from the pensieve and suddenly was drawn into the basin as though he'd been pushed forwards and Alicia, still holding his robes, was pulled with him.

Neither hit the bottom of the of the basin but fell through the icy-cold, black substance that swirled within it.

Then suddenly both Alicia and Harry were sitting on a bench within the courtroom, a bench raised high above the others. Harry looked up at the high stone ceiling, expecting to see the circular window through which the two had just been staring, but there was nothing there but dark, solid stone.

Alicia however was looking around at the wizards around them, somewhere around at least two hundred of them, none of them had noticed the two, but Alicia hadn't expected them to.

Harry however had turned to the wizard next to him on the bench and uttered a loud cry of surprise that reverberated around the silent room. Alicia turned to see that beside Harry was Albus Dumbledore.

Alicia sighed, of course, this was Dumbledore's memory, so it was Dumbledore's perspective, naturally they'd be with him.

"Professor!" Harry said in a kind of strangled whisper. "I'm sorry — I didn't mean to — I was just looking at that basin in your cabinet — I — where are we?"

But Dumbledore didn't move or speak. He ignored Harry completely. Like every other wizard on the benches, he was staring into the far corner of the room, where there was a door.

"Alicia,"

"We can't be seen," Alicia said simply "I told you, this is a memory, like when we went into the diary to see Riddle's memory. We can't be seen because we're not really here."

As if to check Alicia was right, Harry turned and waved his hand energetically in front of Dumbledore's face. Dumbledore did not blink, look around at Harry, or indeed move at all. And that, in Harry's opinion, settled the matter.

He looked at Alicia who raised a knowing eyebrow and her brother nodded, agreeing with her.

Alicia turned to stare at the corner where everyone else was looking as Harry took in the courtroom. Not a few moments had passed before the door in the corner of the dungeon opened and three people entered — or at least one man, flanked by two dementors.

Harry shied away beside Alicia, and she didn't blame him as she bit her lip, but she knew nothing could hurt her, after all, she was like a ghost here. The dementors — tall, hooded creatures whose faces were concealed — were gliding slowly toward the chair in the centre of the room, each grasping one of the man's arms with their dead and rotten-looking hands. The man between them looked as though he was about to faint, and neither twin could blame him… both of them knew the dementors' power only too well. The watching crowd recoiled slightly as the dementors placed the man in the chained chair and glided back out of the room. The door swung shut behind them.

Alicia and Harry looked down at the man now sitting in the chair and saw that it was Karkaroff.

Unlike Dumbledore beside them, Karkaroff looked much younger; his hair and goatee were black. He was not dressed in sleek furs, but in thin and ragged robes. He was shaking. Even as they watched, the chains on the arms of the chair glowed suddenly gold and snaked their way up Karkaroff 's arms, binding him there.

"Igor Karkaroff," said a curt voice to their left. Mr. Crouch was standing up in the middle of the bench beside them. Crouch's hair was dark, his face was much less lined, he looked fit and alert. "You have been brought from Azkaban to present evidence to the Ministry of Magic. You have given us to understand that you have important information for us."

Karkaroff straightened himself as best he could, tightly bound to the chair.

"I have, sir," he said, and although his voice was very scared, the familiar unctuous note in it could still be heard. "I wish to be of use to the Ministry. I wish to help. I — I know that the Ministry is trying to — to round up the last of the Dark Lord's supporters. I am eager to assist in any way I can…"

There was a murmur around the benches. Some of the wizards and witches were surveying Karkaroff with interest, others with pronounced mistrust. Then, quite distinctly, from Dumbledore's other side, a familiar, growling voice saying, "Filth."

Both Alicia and Harry leaned forwards to look around Dumbledore to see Mad-Eye moody was sitting there — except that there was a very noticeable difference in his appearance. He did not have his magical eye, but two normal ones. Both were looking down upon Karkaroff, and both were narrowed in intense dislike.

"Crouch is going to let him out," Moody breathed quietly to Dumbledore. "He's done a deal with him. Took me six months to track him down, and Crouch is going to let him go if he's got enough new names. Let's hear his information, I say, and throw him straight back to the dementors."

Dumbledore made a small noise of dissent through his long, crooked nose.

"Ah, I was forgetting… you don't like the dementors, do you, Albus?" said Moody with a sardonic smile.

"No," said Dumbledore calmly, "I'm afraid I don't. I have long felt the Ministry is wrong to ally itself with such creatures."

"But for filth like this…" Moody said softly.

"You say you have names for us, Karkaroff," said Mr. Crouch. "Let us hear them, please."

"You must understand," said Karkaroff hurriedly, "that He-Who- Must-Not-Be-Named operated always in the greatest secrecy… He preferred that we — I mean to say, his supporters — and I regret now, very deeply, that I ever counted myself among them —"

"Get on with it," sneered Moody.

"— we never knew the names of every one of our fellows — He alone knew exactly who we all were —"

"Which was a wise move, wasn't it, as it prevented someone like you, Karkaroff, from turning all of them in," muttered Moody.

"Yet you say you have _some_ names for us?" said Mr. Crouch.

"I — I do," said Karkaroff breathlessly. "And these were important supporters, mark you. People I saw with my own eyes doing his bidding. I give this information as a sign that I fully and totally renounce him, and am filled with a remorse so deep I can barely —"

"These names are?" said Mr. Crouch sharply.

Karkaroff drew a deep breath.

"There was Antonin Dolohov," he said. "I — I saw him torture countless Muggles and — and non-supporters of the Dark Lord."

"And helped him do it," murmured Moody.

"We have already apprehended Dolohov," said Crouch. "He was caught shortly after yourself."

"Indeed?" said Karkaroff, his eyes widening. "I — I am delighted to hear it!"

But he didn't look it. One of his names was worthless. Alicia narrowed her eyes, clearly something here was important or Dumbledore wouldn't have been going over these particular memories…

"Any others?" said Crouch coldly.

"Why, yes… there was Rosier," said Karkaroff hurriedly. "Evan Rosier."

"Rosier is dead," said Crouch. "He was caught shortly after you were too. He preferred to fight rather than come quietly and was killed in the struggle."

"Took a bit of me with him, though," whispered Moody to the twin's right. Alicia and Harry looked around at him once more, and saw him indicating the large chunk out of his nose to Dumbledore.

"No — no more than Rosier deserved!" said Karkaroff, a real note of panic in his voice now. Harry could see that he was starting to worry that none of his information would be of any use to the Ministry. Karkaroff's eyes darted toward the door in the corner, behind which the dementors undoubtedly still stood, waiting.

"Any more?" said Crouch.

"Yes!" said Karkaroff. "There was Travers — he helped murder the McKinnons! Mulciber — he specialised in the Imperius Curse, forced countless people to do horrific things! Rookwood, who was a spy, and passed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named useful information from inside the Ministry itself!"

Harry could tell that, this time, Karkaroff had struck gold. The watching crowd was all murmuring together.

"Rookwood?" said Mr. Crouch, nodding to a witch sitting in front of him, who began scribbling upon her piece of parchment. "Augustus Rookwood of the Department of Mysteries?"

"The very same," said Karkaroff eagerly. "I believe he used a network of well-placed wizards, both inside the Ministry and out, to collect information —"

"But Travers and Mulciber we have," said Mr. Crouch. "Very well, Karkaroff, if that is all, you will be returned to Azkaban while we decide —"

"Not yet!" cried Karkaroff, looking quite desperate. "Wait, I have more!"

Karkaroff was sweating in the torchlight, his white skin contrasting strongly with the black of his hair and beard.

"Snape!" he shouted. "Severus Snape!"

"Snape has been cleared by this council," said Crouch disdainfully. "He has been vouched for by Albus Dumbledore."

"No!" shouted Karkaroff, straining at the chains that bound him to the chair. "I assure you! Severus Snape is a Death Eater!"

Dumbledore had gotten to his feet.

"I have given evidence already on this matter," he said calmly. "Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. However, he rejoined our side before Lord Voldemort's downfall and turned spy for us, at great personal risk. He is now no more a Death Eater than I am."

Harry turned to look at Mad-Eye Moody. He was wearing a look of deep skepticism behind Dumbledore's back.

"I guess something happened if Dumbledore's giving him a serious second chance…" Alicia muttered to Harry. Harry pulled a face that said he didn't agree.

"Very well, Karkaroff," Crouch said coldly, "you have been of assistance. I shall review your case. You will return to Azkaban in the meantime…"

Mr. Crouch's voice faded. The dungeon was dissolving as though it were made of smoke; everything was fading; they could see only their own bodies and one another — all else was swirling darkness…

"The memory's changing." Alicia muttered and Harry looked at her

And then, the dungeon returned. Harry and Alicia was sitting in a different seat, still on the highest bench, but now to the left side of Mr. Crouch. The atmosphere seemed quite different: relaxed, even cheerful. The witches and wizards all around the walls were talking to one another, almost as though they were at some sort of sporting event. Harry and Alicia noticed a witch halfway up the rows of benches opposite. She had short blonde hair, was wearing magenta robes, and was sucking the end of an acid-green quill.

"Great…" Alicia muttered. It was, unmistakably, a younger Rita Skeeter. Dumbledore was sitting beside them again, wearing different robes. Mr. Crouch looked more tired and somehow fiercer, gaunter…

The door in the corner opened, and Ludo Bagman walked into the room.

This was not, however, a Ludo Bagman gone to seed, but a Ludo Bagman who was clearly at the height of his Quidditch-playing fitness. His nose wasn't broken now; he was tall and lean and muscular. Bagman looked nervous as he sat down in the chained chair, but it did not bind him there as it had bound Karkaroff, and Bagman, perhaps taking heart from this, glanced around at the watching crowd, waved at a couple of them, and managed a small smile.

Alicia looked down at him shocked.

"Ludo Bagman, you have been brought here in front of the Council of Magical Law to answer charges relating to the activities of the Death Eaters," said Mr. Crouch. "We have heard the evidence against you, and are about to reach our verdict. Do you have anything to add to your testimony before we pronounce judgment?"

Alicia and Harry stared at one another with their mouths wide open.

 _Ludo Bagman, a Death Eater_? they both questioned

"Only," said Bagman, smiling awkwardly, "well — I know I've been a bit of an idiot —"

One or two wizards and witches in the surrounding seats smiled indulgently. Mr. Crouch did not appear to share their feelings. He was staring down at Ludo Bagman with an expression of the utmost severity and dislike.

"You never spoke a truer word, boy," someone muttered dryly to Dumbledore behind Harry and Alicia. Alicia rolled her eyes, guessing who it was already was Harry looked around and saw Moody sitting there again. "If I didn't know he'd always been dim, I'd have said some of those Bludgers had permanently affected his brain…"

"Ludovic Bagman, you were caught passing information to Lord Voldemort's supporters," said Mr. Crouch. "For this, I suggest a term of imprisonment in Azkaban lasting no less than —"

But there was an angry outcry from the surrounding benches. Several of the witches and wizards around the walls stood up, shaking their heads, and even their fists, at Mr. Crouch.

"But I've told you, I had no idea!" Bagman called earnestly over the crowd's babble, his round blue eyes widening. "None at all! Old Rookwood was a friend of my dad's… never crossed my mind he was in with You-Know-Who! I thought I was collecting information for our side! And Rookwood kept talking about getting me a job in the Ministry later on… once my Quidditch days are over, you know … I mean, I can't keep getting hit by Bludgers for the rest of my life, can I?"

There were titters from the crowd.

"It will be put to the vote," said Mr. Crouch coldly. He turned to the right-hand side of the dungeon. "The jury will please raise their hands… those in favour of imprisonment…"

Alicia and Harry looked toward the right-hand side of the dungeon. Not one person raised their hand. Many of the witches and wizards around the walls began to clap. One of the witches on the jury stood up.

"Yes?" barked Crouch.

"We'd just like to congratulate Mr. Bagman on his splendid performance for England in the Quidditch match against Turkey last Saturday," the witch said breathlessly.

Mr. Crouch looked furious. The dungeon was ringing with applause now. Bagman got to his feet and bowed, beaming.

"Despicable," Mr. Crouch spat at Dumbledore, sitting down as Bagman walked out of the dungeon. "Rookwood get him a job indeed… The day Ludo Bagman joins us will be a sad day indeed for the Ministry…"

And the dungeon dissolved again.

"I guess the explains Crouch's distain." Alicia sighed to Harry.

When the room had returned, the twins and Dumbledore were still sitting beside Mr. Crouch, but the atmosphere could not have been more different. There was total silence, broken only by the dry sobs of a frail, wispy-looking witch in the seat next to Mr. Crouch. She was clutching a handkerchief to her mouth with trembling hands.

Alicia and Harry looked at one another before looking at Crouch and saw that he looked gaunter and greyer than ever before. A nerve was twitching in his temple.

"Bring them in," he said, and his voice echoed through the silent dungeon.

The door in the corner opened yet again. Six dementors entered this time, flanking a group of four people. The people in the crowd turn to look up at Mr. Crouch. A few of them whispered to one another.

The dementors placed each of the four people in the four chairs with chained arms that now stood on the dungeon floor. There was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous-looking man, whose eyes were darting around the crowd; a woman with thick, shining dark hair and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as though it were a throne; and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. He was shivering, his straw-coloured hair all over his face, his freckled skin milk-white. The wispy little witch beside Crouch began to rock backward and forward in her seat, whimpering into her handkerchief.

Alicia looked at them, eying each and recognising a few faces from some books she'd read, but it was the straw-coloured hair boy that caught her attention and her eyes widened.

Crouch stood up. He looked down upon the four in front of him, and there was pure hatred in his face.

"You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law," he said clearly, "so that we may pass judgment on you, for a crime so heinous —"

"Father," said the boy with the straw-coloured hair. "Father… please…"

"— that we have rarely heard the like of it within this court," said Crouch, speaking more loudly, drowning out his son's voice.

"We have heard the evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror — Frank Longbottom — and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named —"

"Father, I didn't!" shrieked the boy in chains below. "I didn't, I swear it, Father, don't send me back to the dementors —"

"You are further accused," bellowed Mr. Crouch, "of using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom's wife, when he would not give you information. You planned to restore He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to power, and to resume the lives of violence you presumably led while he was strong. I now ask the jury —"

"Mother!" screamed the boy below, and the wispy little witch beside Crouch began to sob, rocking backward and forward. "Mother, stop him, Mother, I didn't do it, it wasn't me!"

"I now ask the jury," shouted Mr. Crouch, "to raise their hands if they believe, as I do, that these crimes deserve a life sentence in Azkaban!"

In unison, the witches and wizards along the right-hand side of the dungeon raised their hands. The crowd around the walls began to clap as it had for Bagman, their faces full of savage triumph. The boy began to scream.

"No! Mother, no! I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't know! Don't send me there, don't let him!"

The dementors were gliding back into the room. The boys' three companions rose quietly from their seats; the woman with the heavy-lidded eyes looked up at Crouch and called, "The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!"

But the boy was trying to fight off the dementors, even though you could see their cold, draining power starting to affect him. The crowd was jeering, some of them on their feet, as the woman swept out of the dungeon, and the boy continued to struggle.

"I'm your son!" he screamed up at Crouch. "I'm your son!"

"You are no son of mine!" bellowed Mr. Crouch, his eyes bulging suddenly. "I have no son!"

The wispy witch beside him gave a great gasp and slumped in her seat. She had fainted. Crouch appeared not to have noticed.

"Take them away!" Crouch roared at the dementors, spit flying from his mouth. "Take them away, and may they rot there!"

"Father! Father, I wasn't involved! No! No! Father, please!"

"I think, Harry, Alicia, it is time to return to my office," said a quiet voice in Harry's ear.

"Sorry professor." Alicia muttered before she turned to him. Albus Dumbledore was sitting on both the twins left and right.

"Come," said the Dumbledore on Harry's left, and he put his hand under Harry's elbow. Alicia placed her hand on Harry's shoulders and both felt themselves rising into the air; the dungeon dissolved around them; for a moment, all was blackness, and then Alicia felt her feet hit the ground again, in what seemed like the dazzling light of Dumbledore's sunlit office. The stone basin was shimmering in the cabinet in front of him, and Albus Dumbledore was standing beside them.

"Professor," Harry gasped, "I know I shouldn't've — I didn't mean — the cabinet door was sort of open and — Alicia said we shouldn't but —"

"I quite understand," said Dumbledore. He lifted the basin, carried it over to his desk, placed it upon the polished top, and sat down in the chair behind it. He motioned for Harry and Alicia to sit down opposite him.

Alicia frowned, they had been invading Dumbledore's personal thoughts, she didn't expect him to be completely calm and collected about it.

"This is called a Pensieve," said Dumbledore. "I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind."

Harry looked at Alicia, her having been right about pensieve, she also agreed with having her head cluttered. Harry apparently didn't.

"Er," said Harry

"At these times," said Dumbledore, indicating the stone basin, "I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form."

"You mean… that stuff's your _thoughts_?" Harry said, staring at the swirling white substance in the basin.

"Certainly," said Dumbledore. "Let me show you."

Dumbledore drew his wand out of the inside of his robes and placed the tip into his own silvery hair, near his temple. When he took the wand away, hair seemed to be clinging to it — but it was in fact a glistening strand of the same strange silvery-white substance that filled the Pensieve. Dumbledore added this fresh thought to the basin, and Harry, astonished, saw his own face swimming around the surface of the bowl. Dumbledore placed his long hands on either side of the Pensieve and swirled it, rather as a gold prospector would pan for fragments of gold… and both Alicia and Harry saw their own faces change smoothly into Snape's, who opened his mouth and spoke to the ceiling, his voice echoing slightly.

"It's coming back… Karkaroff's too… stronger and clearer than ever…"

"A connection I could have made without assistance," Dumbledore sighed, "but never mind." He peered over the top of his half-moon spectacles at the twins, Harry of who was gaping at Snape's face, which was continuing to swirl around the bowl. "I was using the Pensieve when Mr. Fudge arrived for our meeting and put it away rather hastily. Undoubtedly I did not fasten the cabinet door properly. Naturally, it would have attracted your attention."

"I'm sorry," Harry mumbled.

"We didn't mean to pry." Alicia frowned but Dumbledore shook his head.

"Curiosity is not a sin," he said. "But we should exercise caution with our curiosity… yes, indeed…"

Frowning slightly, he prodded the thoughts within the basin with the tip of his wand. Instantly, a figure rose out of it, a plump, scowling girl of about sixteen, who began to revolve slowly, with her feet still in the basin. She took no notice whatsoever of Harry or Professor Dumbledore or Alicia. When she spoke, her voice echoed as Snape's had done, as though it were coming from the depths of the stone basin.

"He put a hex on me, Professor Dumbledore, and I was only teasing him, sir. I only said I'd seen him kissing Florence behind the greenhouses last Thursday…"

"But why, Bertha," said Dumbledore sadly, looking up at the now silently revolving girl, "why did you have to follow him in the first place?"

"Bertha?" Harry whispered, looking up at her. "Is that — was that Bertha Jorkins?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore, prodding the thoughts in the basin again; Bertha sank back into them, and they became silvery and opaque once more. "That was Bertha as I remember her at school."

The silvery light from the Pensieve illuminated Dumbledore's face, and it struck Harry suddenly how very old he was looking. He knew, of course, that Dumbledore was getting on in years, but somehow he never really thought of Dumbledore as an old man.

"So, Harry, Alicia," said Dumbledore quietly. "Before you got lost in my thoughts, you wanted to tell me something."

"Yes," said Harry. He looked at Alicia who indicated for him to go first. "Professor — I was in Divination just now, and — er — I fell asleep."

He hesitated here, wondering if a reprimand was coming, but Dumbledore merely said, "Quite understandable. Continue."

"Well, I had a dream," said Harry. "A dream about Lord Voldemort. He was torturing Wormtail… you know who Wormtail —"

"I do know," said Dumbledore promptly. "Please continue."

"Voldemort got a letter from an owl. He said something like, Wormtail's blunder had been repaired. He said someone was dead. Then he said, Wormtail wouldn't be fed to the snake — there was a snake beside his chair. He said — he said he'd be feeding me to it, instead. Then he did the Cruciatus Curse on Wormtail — and my scar hurt," Harry said. "It woke me up, it hurt so badly."

Dumbledore merely looked at him.

"Er — that's all," said Harry.

"I see," said Dumbledore quietly. "I see. Now, has your scar hurt at any other time this year, excepting the time it woke you up over the summer?"

"No, I — how did you know it woke me up over the summer?" said Harry, astonished.

"You are not Sirius's only correspondent," said Dumbledore. "I have also been in contact with him ever since he left Hogwarts last year. It was I who suggested the mountainside cave as the safest place for him to stay."

Alicia smiled, she knew it. Then her frowned vanished, Dumbledore though Sirius was safe back at Hogwarts?

Dumbledore got up and began walking up and down behind his desk. Every now and then, he placed his wand tip to his temple, removed another shining silver thought, and added it to the Pensieve. The thoughts inside began to swirl so fast that Harry couldn't make out anything clearly: It was merely a blur of colour.

"Professor?" he said quietly, after a couple of minutes. Dumbledore stopped pacing and looked at Harry.

"My apologies," he said quietly. He sat back down at his desk.

"D'you — d'you know why my scar's hurting me?"  
Dumbledore looked very intently at Harry for a moment, and then said, "I have a theory, no more than that… It is my belief that your scar hurts both when Lord Voldemort is near you, and when he is feeling a particularly strong surge of hatred."

"But… why?"

"Because you and he are connected by the curse that failed," said Dumbledore. "That is no ordinary scar."

"So you think… that dream… did it really happen?"

"It is possible," said Dumbledore. "I would say — probable." Alicia frowned, after Crouch's visit she was more than sure it was true… "Harry — did you see Voldemort?"

"No," said Harry. "Just the back of his chair. But — there wouldn't have been anything to see, would there? I mean, he hasn't got a body, has he? But… but then how could he have held the wand?" Harry said slowly.

"How indeed?" muttered Dumbledore. "How indeed…"

Neither Dumbledore nor Harry spoke for a while as Alicia stared at her lap, worried and nervous. Dumbledore was gazing across the room, and, every now and then, placing his wand tip to his temple and adding another shining silver thought to the seething mass within the Pensieve.

"Alicia, does something trouble you?" Dumbledore suddenly asked her. She looked up at him

"Did Sirius tell you I had the same dream as Harry?" she asked quietly. Dumbledore nodded "Well, I know I saw it through Harry because you said he and I had a connection and Harry has the connection with Voldemort… but…" she took a deep breath "I remember the dream."

Dumbledore watched her intently.

"And I saw Voldemort." Harry looked at her surprised. "It was like a crouched human child, but… it wasn't." she shook her head in distain "It was hairless, scaly, dark, raw, reddish black. It's arms and legs were thin and feeble and it's face… it was flat, snakelike and with red eyes." she freaked and shook her head as if trying to get the memory from her head, wishing she'd never seen it. "In the dream, he said they'd killed Bertha Jonkins, and that they were going to get to Harry while he was here at Hogwarts, use him for something and kill him in the process." she said with a sigh before finally looking at Dumbledore, his eyes were hard as he examined her.

Alicia took a deep breath.

"After Harry's name came out of the Goblet, I don't know how but I think Voldemort has something to do with it." she breathed "In the dream there were three people, Voldemort, though not really human, Wormtail and a man who they killed, a muggle and then…" she stopped

"Go on." Dumbledore pressed

"This is where I'm confused. The day we left for the Hogwarts Express, September 1st, I had another dream, but this was no were near as vivid or daunting as the first one and at first I thought nothing of it… but now… Sirius said he'd died many years ago after being imprisoned, so how he was in a dream that was, could have been a vision, which Harry didn't see so how did I…" she shook her head. "When Sirius told us about him I thought he was the one who'd put Harry's name in the Goblet, and he was the one who conjured the mark at the Quidditch World Cup, and he was even the one using the Imperius Curse on Mr Crouch and that Mr Crouch had been hiding him and having Winky look after him but… he's supposed to be dead… Sirius saw his body being buried… if he wasn't dead everything would make sense… other than how he's gotten into Hogwarts but…" Alicia rubbed her temples and squeezed her eyes closed

"Alicia," Dumbledore prodded and looked at her over his half-moon spectacles as Harry looked at Alicia completely lost.

"It was Mr Crouch's son." Alicia whispered "He was the person in the dream! Someone walked through a door and into the kitchen and Mr Crouch's son was there, bowing. He spoke but I didn't hear what and everything was blurry, or out of focus, except his face. I'd never seen his face before but, even if he was younger, I recognised him from your memory. Sirius said he died and he watched them bury the body! How could he be alive?! If I'd never seen him before, how could it have been a normal dream, where would I get his face from? But I'm not connected to Voldemort so how did I see it? Was it real and if it was, why isn't he dead?" Alicia questioned. "If he wasn't I'd say that the ministry needed to be looking for Mr Crouch's son but…" she shook her head again and put her head in her hands.

"That's a rather good bit of detective work Ms Evans." Dumbledore said "Though only theories…"

"They're always only theories!" Alicia ground her teeth

"Alicia's rather good at piecing information together," Harry said "She figured out Sirius was innocent before he'd even said a word to us last year, and she worked out we were siblings obviously, and that Riddle was responsible for the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk." Alicia blushed slightly

"Hermione constantly tells them to listen to me when I get like that… there's just always something that doesn't make sense." Alicia admitted. Dumbledore smiled at her

"A quality you, no doubt, gained from your mother." Alicia smiled before she frowned again

"Still doesn't answer the question." she muttered "Or why I remember the dream and Harry doesn't… or why I had another dream and Harry didn't… or…" she trailed off. She turned to Dumbledore again determined and he looked at her waiting.

"Lately, something's been happening to me, Professor." she began "I've been having these… ghost moments." She admitted "I fell asleep in the common room and suddenly found myself with Harry after he'd figured out the clue of the golden dragon's egg. He couldn't see me, it seemed like he could hear me, but no one else could, I couldn't touch anything but the floor I was standing on…" she took a deep breath "The second time was when you put me to sleep for the second task, I accompanied Harry through the Black Lake as he went looking for me, and I was able to touch him and he felt me as well as heard my voice, as soon as I woke up both times I was back in my body again. And then when Harry saw Mr Crouch, I passed out this time and it happened again. I was technically a witness to Mr Crouch's madness but to me he made perfect sense. He had been kidnapped and the confusion of his memories made me think Imperius curse because he'd still been writing to Percy to keep the suspicion down, he said Bertha was dead, and he said something about son too… who I still don't see how he's alive, and that he needed to warn you… Voldemort was getting stronger and Harry was in danger… everything made sense but…" she took a deep breath "I only have these moments when Harry's in trouble or having an adrenaline rush or…" she paused again as Dumbledore watched her "Does this happen because we're linked by this curse? Or is something wrong with me?"

Dumbledore smiled.

"I think you'd find it's a deep connection between your two as twins, helped along by the cursed that effected you both."

"So we're already connected weirdly but the curse Voldemort inflicted gives it more of a… crazy factor?" Alicia asked. Dumbledore chuckled.

"If that's how you'd like to put it."

Alicia sighed and nodded, she felt better that she wasn't crazy but… She didn't understand, how was Crouch's son alive? Sirius had seen the body buried with his own eyes… or could it have been someone else's body? Crouch didn't seem the type to break anyone out above the law… even his son? He didn't seem to care enough about the boy, unlike his wife… could she have asked something of him? Would Crouch have done such a thing? It would explain Winky's actions, and all her words about keeping Crouch's most important secret, he was hiding his son and had broken him out of Azkaban, Rita Skeeter would have a field day on such information.

But if Crouch had broken his son out of Azkaban, then who did Sirius see the dementors burying? Would a polyjuice potion work on dead bodies still? That could explain what Sirius saw… but who could Crouch use? With Voldemort gone by then, there weren't exactly spare bodies to use.

And then the ultimate question, how had Alicia had that dream where she saw Crouch's son in the first place? Harry didn't seem to have had it? So why did she?

"Professor," Harry said at last, breaking the silence that had grown between the three. "do you think he's getting stronger?"

"Voldemort?" said Dumbledore, looking at Harry over the Pensieve. It was the characteristic "Once again, Harry, I can only give you my suspicions."

Dumbledore sighed again, and he looked older, and wearier, than ever.

"The years of Voldemort's ascent to power," he said, "were marked with disappearances. Bertha Jorkins has vanished without a trace in the place where Voldemort was certainly known to be last. Mr. Crouch too has disappeared… within these very grounds. And there was a third disappearance, one which the Ministry, I regret to say, do not consider of any importance, for it concerns a Muggle. His name was Frank Bryce, he lived in the village where Voldemort's father grew up, and he has not been seen since last August. You see, I read the Muggle newspapers, unlike most of my Ministry friends."

Dumbledore looked very seriously at Harry, then at Alicia, she had just said a muggle has been killed.

"These disappearances seem to me to be linked. The Ministry disagrees — as you may have heard, while waiting outside my office."

Alicia and Harry nodded. Silence fell between them again, Dumbledore extracting thoughts every now and then.

"Professor," Alicia muttered "You wouldn't happen to have a picture of this muggle would you?" Alicia asked. Dumbledore got up and moved behind the desk before coming back with a newspaper, he handed it to Alicia who flipped through the paper until she stopped on the article of Frank's disappearance.

Alicia turned the Article to Harry.

"What do you think?" showing a picture of the man.

"He looks familiar…" Harry muttered and Alicia added

"He's the man we watched Voldemort kill during the summer." Alicia said. They'd seen Voldemort kill a muggle and here Dumbledore said one was missing, what other connection would Alicia have made?

Dumbledore looked at her seriously.

"If this man has disappeared, Bertha vanished and Crouch said she's dead, we saw Frank get murdered and heard Voldemort confess to Bertha's death, of which Voldemort found out about the Triwizard Tournament through, which he was planning on using to get to Harry, and wasn't going to act until after the Quidditch Cup," Alicia began "Then our dream was no dream." she said positively "Which means Crouch staged his son's death, because his son was very much alive in my… vision, I guess it really was." She said seriously "I don't know how but Sirius saw The Dementors bury an impersonating body outside Azkaban. Winky said that she was entrusted to look after Crouch's most important secret, in which she'd keep and Crouch was babbling about his son and how it was his fault." Alicia turned to Dumbledore

"Could it be, that somehow, Crouch's son is in Hogwarts and put Harry's name in the Goblet of fire? Setting up somehow for Voldemort to get to, or in hopes Harry would die, and Crouch realised what was happening, probably when Winky was found in the forest were I suppose his son really was who casted the Dark Mark. If he is conspiring with Voldemort, then he is a Death Eater and would know how to." she said "Crouch said he escaped, could his son have bewitched him to send in letters to Percy to keep suspicion down but had to lock him up as his dad was going to expose him?" she thought. Dumbledore looked at her strongly

"That is an interesting theory." Dumbledore said "One unfortunately we cannot prove." Alicia nodded

"I know. But if I'm right, it could explain where Crouch vanished too, his son could be on the grounds. I mean Sirius was in Hogwarts for a whole year and Rita Skeeter's been buzzing around getting scoops she hasn't witnessed so…"

Dumbledore hummed.

Harry sat in silence and bit his lip, looking like he wanted very much to ask Dumbledore a questioned as they fell into silence.

"Professor?" he said again.

"Yes, Harry?" said Dumbledore.

"Er… could I ask you about… that court thing I was in… in the Pensieve?"

"You could," said Dumbledore heavily. "I attended it many times, but some trials come back to me more clearly than others… particularly now…"

"You know — you know the trial you found me in? The one with Crouch's son? Well… were they talking about Neville's parents?"

Alicia frowned and turned to Dumbledore as he gave Harry a very sharp look.

"Has Neville never told you why he has been brought up by his grandmother?" he said.

Harry and Alicia shook their heads.

"I wasn't sure if it was a touchy subject or not…" Alicia muttered and Dumbledore nodded

"Yes, they were talking about Neville's parents," said Dumbledore. "His father, Frank, was an Auror just like Professor Moody. He and his wife were tortured for information about Voldemort's whereabouts after he lost his powers, as you heard."

"So they're dead?" said Harry quietly.

"No," said Dumbledore, his voice full of a bitterness "They are insane. They are both in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I believe Neville visits them, with his grandmother, during the holidays. They do not recognise him."

Alicia frowned in shock, not even having your parents recognise you… that couldn't be any better than having them gone… it sounded much more torturous.

"The Longbottoms were very popular," said Dumbledore. "The attacks on them came after Voldemort's fall from power, just when everyone thought they were safe. Those attacks caused a wave of fury such as I have never known. The Ministry was under great pressure to catch those who had done it. Unfortunately, the Longbottoms' evidence was — given their condition — none too reliable."

"Then Mr. Crouch's son might not have been involved?" said Harry slowly. He looked at Alicia who he could tell hardly believed this anymore. She was sticking with her new theory.

Dumbledore shook his head.

"As to that, I have no idea."

Harry sat in silence once more, watching the contents of the Pensieve swirl.

"Er," he said, "Mr. Bagman…"

"… has never been accused of any Dark activity since," said Dumbledore calmly.

"He doesn't seem the type really." Alicia said with a slight smile in which Dumbledore returned, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"Right," said Harry hastily, staring at the contents of the Pensieve again, which were swirling more slowly now that Dumbledore had stopped adding thoughts. "And… er…"

The Pensieve seemed to be asking his question for him.

Snape's face was swimming on the surface again. Dumbledore glanced down into it, and then up at Harry.

"No more has Professor Snape," he said.

"What made you think he'd really stopped supporting Voldemort, Professor?"

Alicia looked at her brother surprised by the question.

Dumbledore held Harry's gaze for a few seconds, and then said, "That, Harry, is a matter between Professor Snape and myself." Harry nodded and looked at Alicia who hit his arm with an incredulous look.

She decided that was all, they'd told Dumbeldore what they needed, more than intended and Alicia had asked about her ghost periods. Harry stood up as Alicia did, and so did Dumbledore.

"Harry, Alicia," he said as Harry reached the door, Alicia behind him as both turned around. "Please do not speak about Neville's parents to anybody else. He has the right to let people know, when he is ready."

"Yes, Professor," said Harry, turning to go.

"And —"

Harry looked back. Dumbledore was standing over the Pensieve, his face lit from beneath by its silvery spots of light, looking older than ever. He stared at Harry for a moment, and then said, "Good luck with the third task."


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30:

"Dumbledore reckons You-Know-Who's getting stronger again as well?" Ron whispered.  
Everything Harry and Alicia had seen in the Pensieve, nearly everything Dumbledore had told and shown them afterward, they had now shared with Ron and Hermione — and, of course, with Sirius, to whom the twins had sent an owl the moment they had left Dumbledore's office.

Alicia was yet to overwhelm them with her accusations of Mr Crouch's son, something she'd rambled to Sirius. Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat up late in the common room once again that night, talking it all over until Harry's mind was reeling, until he understood what Dumbledore had meant about a head becoming so full of thoughts that it would have been a relief to siphon them off.

Ron stared into the common room fire. Harry thought he saw Ron shiver slightly, even though the evening was warm.

"And he trusts Snape?" Ron said. "He really trusts Snape, even though he knows he was a Death Eater?"

"Yes," said Harry.

Hermione had not spoken for ten minutes. She was sitting with her forehead in her hands, staring at her knees. Harry thought she too looked as though she could have done with a Pensieve.

"Rita Skeeter," she muttered finally.

"How can you be worrying about her now?" said Ron, in utter disbelief and Alicia hit him annoyed

"I'm not worrying about her," Hermione said to her knees. "I'm just thinking… remember what she said to me in the Three Broomsticks? 'I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl.' This is what she meant, isn't it? She reported his trial, she knew he'd passed information to the Death Eaters. And Winky too, remember… 'Ludo Bagman's a bad wizard.' Mr. Crouch would have been furious he got off, he would have talked about it at home."

"Yeah, but Bagman didn't pass information on purpose, did he?" Hermione shrugged.

"Still don't reckon he's the type, some you can tell, Snape and Karkaroff are both sour and have a dark spell about them, Ludo's way too… boyish. Though his strange behaviour in the forest wouldn't help him… might have been why he looked so frightened." Alicia said

"And Fudge reckons _Madame Maxime_ attacked Crouch?" Ron said, turning back to Harry.

"Yeah," said Harry, "but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage."

"We never thought of her, did we?" said Ron slowly. "Mind you, she's definitely got giant blood, and she doesn't want to admit it —"

"Of course she doesn't," said Hermione sharply, looking up. "Look what happened to Hagrid when Rita found out about his mother. Look at Fudge, jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth." Hermione looked at her watch. "We haven't done any practicing!" she said, looking shocked. "We were going to do the Impediment Curse! We'll have to really get down to it tomorrow! Come on, Harry, you need to get some sleep."

"Yes mum," Alicia muttered to which the boys grinned.

Harry and Ron went slowly upstairs to their dormitory while Hermione and Alicia moved to their own. True to his word Harry hadn't told Ron or Hermione about Neville's parents as Alicia had kept Crouch's son to blame to herself too.

She shook her head as she climbed into bed, all she should have been worrying about was getting Harry through the last task alive, and her exams coming up, in which Harry was exempt from… typical.

* * *

Alicia, Ron and Hermione were supposed to be studying for their exams, which would finish on the day of the third task, but they were putting most of their efforts into helping Harry prepare.

"Don't worry about it," Hermione said shortly when Harry pointed this out to them and said he didn't mind practicing on his own for a while, "at least we'll get top marks in Defence Against the Dark Arts. We'd never have found out about all these hexes in class."

"You would if you asked." Alicia smirked

"Just cause you know them all." Harry rolled his eyes and she shrugged

"Good training for when we're all Aurors," said Ron excitedly, attempting the Impediment Curse on a wasp that had buzzed into the room and making it stop dead in midair.

The mood in the castle as they entered June became excited and tense again. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the end of term. Harry was practicing hexes at every available moment. He felt more confident about this task than either of the others. Difficult and dangerous though it would undoubtedly be, Moody was right: Harry had managed to find his way past monstrous creatures and enchanted barriers before now, and this time he had some notice, some chance to prepare himself for what lay ahead.

Tired of walking in on Harry, Alicia, Hermione, and Ron all over the school, Professor McGonagall had given them permission to use the empty Transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes. Harry had soon mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers; the Reductor Curse, which would enable him to blast solid objects out of his way; and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione's that would make his wand point due north, therefore enabling him to check whether he was going in the right direction within the maze. He was still having trouble with the Shield Charm, though, something Alicia was rather skilled in and was trying to teach him by throwing a few harmless jinxes at him. This was supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around himself that deflected minor curses. To prove she wasn't cheating Alicia had Hermione have a go who managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs Jinx, and Harry wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before she had looked up the counter-jinx.

"You're still doing really well, though," Hermione said encouragingly, looking down her list and crossing off those spells they had already learned. "Some of these are bound to come in handy."

"Good thing we know Hagrid and his monsters, we looked up quite a few that should help against big bodies." Alicia muttered as she looked over Hermione's shoulder.

"Come and look at this," said Ron, who was standing by the window. He was staring down onto the grounds. "What's Malfoy doing?"

Alicia, Harry and Hermione went to see. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. Malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it.

"He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie," said Harry curiously.

"He can't be," said Hermione, "I've told you, those sorts of things don't work around Hogwarts. Come on, Harry," she added briskly, turning away from the window and moving back into the middle of the room, "let's try that Shield Charm again."

"Maybe he's lost it? I hope so." Alicia muttered with a smirk

"Dream on." Ron sighed.

* * *

Sirius was sending daily owls now. Like Hermione, he seemed to want to concentrate on getting Harry through the last task before they concerned themselves with anything else. He reminded Harry in every letter that whatever might be going on outside the walls of Hogwarts was not Harry's responsibility, nor was it within his power to influence it. Naturally this annoyed Alicia as he'd said nothing about her accusing Mr Crouch's son, good or bad.

 _If Voldemort is really getting stronger again,_ he wrote, _my priority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to lay hands on you while you are under Dumbledore's protection, but all the same, take no risks: Concentrate on getting through that maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters._

"It's things like that that gets us in trouble at the end of every year." Alicia muttered annoyed.

Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor table on the morning of the third task. The post owls appeared, bringing Harry a good-luck card from Sirius. It was only a piece of parchment, folded over and bearing a muddy paw print on its front, but Harry appreciated it all the same. A screech owl arrived for Hermione, carrying her morning copy of the _Daily Prophet_ as usual. She unfolded the paper, glanced at the front page, and spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over it.

"What?" said Harry and Ron together, staring at her.

Alicia however had leaned over Hermione's shoulder and almost chocked on her pancakes as she snatched it.

"Nothing," said Hermione quickly, trying to shove the paper out of sight as she took it back from Alicia, but Ron grabbed it. He stared at the headline and said, "No way. Not today. That old _cow._ "

"What?" said Harry. "Rita Skeeter again?"

"No," said Ron, and just like Hermione, he attempted to push the paper out of sight.

"It's about me, isn't it?" said Harry.

"No," said Ron, in an entirely unconvincing tone.

But before Harry could demand to see the paper, Draco Malfoy shouted across the Great Hall from the Slytherin table.

"Hey, Potter! _Potter_! How's your head? You feeling all right? Sure you're not going to go berserk on us?"  
Malfoy was holding a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ too. Slytherins up and down the table were sniggering, twisting in their seats to see Harry's reaction.

"Let me see it," Harry said to Ron. "Give it here."

"He's got the right to know Ron." Alicia said strongly as the red-head hesitated.

Very reluctantly, Ron handed over the newspaper. Harry turned it over and found himself staring at his own picture, beneath the banner headline:

HARRY POTTER

"DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS"

 _The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behaviour, which casts doubts upon his suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School._

 _Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming that his scar was hurting too badly to continue studying._

 _It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potter's brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You-Know-Who, and that his insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion._

 _"He might even be pretending," said one specialist. "This could be a plea for attention."_

 _The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public._

 _"Potter and Alicia Evans (a fellow classmate), can speak Parseltongue," reveals Draco Malfoy, a Hogwarts fourth year. "There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a duelling club and set a snake on another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do anything for a bit of power."_

 _Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defence League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers." Similarly, "anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence."_

 _Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening._

"Gone off me a bit, hasn't she?" said Harry lightly, folding up the paper.

"I'm surprised she even entered my name." Alicia said before taking a mouthful of pancakes.

Over at the Slytherin table, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were laughing at him, tapping their heads with their fingers, pulling grotesquely mad faces, and waggling their tongues like snakes.

"How did she know your scar hurt in Divination?" Ron said. "There's no way she was there, there's no way she could've heard —"

"The window was open," said Harry. "I opened it to breathe."

"You were at the top of North Tower!" Hermione said. "Your voice couldn't have carried all the way down to the grounds!"

"Well, you're the one who's supposed to be researching magical methods of bugging!" said Harry. "You tell me how she did it!"

"I've been trying!" said Hermione. "But I… but…"

"I'm telling you she's…" Alicia paused "Harry did you see anything on the window?" she asked

"Only a bug." he shrugged

"Any bugs while you over heard Hagrid?"

"Uh…" he thought confused by the question "Yeah, I tried to concentrate on it while trying not to listen to Hagrid." he nodded

"And Malfoy looked like he was using a walkie talkie…" Alicia muttered

"What?" Harry and Ron asked as Alicia turned to Hermione

"You had a beetle in your hair." she said to Hermione with a grin. The girl looked confused and then, an odd, dreamy expression suddenly came over Hermione's face. She slowly raised a hand and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Are you all right?" said Ron, frowning at her.

"Yes," said Hermione breathlessly. She ran her fingers through her hair again, and then held her hand up to her mouth, as though speaking into an invisible walkie-talkie. Harry and Ron stared at each other.

"I've had an idea," Hermione said, gazing into space. "Alicia, you were right! You're a genius!"

"I know." Alicia smirked, putting some pancake in her mouth.

"I think I know… because then no one would be able to see… even Moody… and she'd have been able to get onto the window ledge… but she's not allowed… she's _definitely_ not allowed… I think we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library — just to make sure!"

With that, Hermione seized her school bag and dashed out of the Great Hall.

"Oi!" Ron called after her. "We've got our History of Magic exam in ten minutes! Blimey," he said, turning back to Harry, "she must really hate that Skeeter woman to risk missing the start of an exam. What're you going to do in Binns's class — read again?"

Exempt from the end-of-term tests as a Triwizard champion, Harry had been sitting in the back of every exam class so far, looking up fresh hexes for the third task.

"S'pose so," Harry said to Ron; but just then, Professor McGonagall came walking alongside the Gryffindor table toward him.

"Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she said.

"But the task's not till tonight!" said Harry, accidentally spilling scrambled eggs down his front, afraid he had mistaken the time.

"I'm aware of that, Potter," she said. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them."

Harry gaped after her.

"But…?" Alicia began

"Ms Evans, you are to accompany Mr Potter." she said

"Professor, my Exam?" Alicia said confused as McGonagall glanced over the table.

"I've already informed Mr Binns." she said and Alicia looked confused as a few people on the table were listening.

"Okay…" Alicia muttered as she moved away from the table.

"She doesn't expect the Dursleys to turn up, does she?" he asked Ron blankly.

"Dunno," said Ron. "Harry, I'd better hurry, I'm going to be late for Binns. See you later." he ran away as Alicia felt she needed to follow.

"She's excused me from my last exam, or do I make it up later?"

"You'd get full marks anyway." Harry shrugged

"Still, I'm surprised she said that…" Alicia looked around at everyone on the table.

"You don't care if it's a secret do you?" Harry wondered

"No, as Voldemort already knows…" Alicia admitted lowly "A quite a bit of the ministry knows, and the teachers."

"You'd be targeted by Rita Skeeter." Harry warned and Alicia smirked

"I think I know how to deal with her, and if Hermione has her way," Alicia chuckled.

Both Alicia and Harry finished their breakfast as the Great Hall emptied steadily.

They both saw Fleur Delacour get up from the Ravenclaw table and join Cedric as he crossed to the side chamber and entered. Krum slouched off to join them shortly afterward. Harry stayed where he was.

Alicia looked at the door, she didn't bother to tell Harry he had to move, nor did she move herself, they didn't have a family so who could be waiting on the other side of the door. Naturally the Dursleys would rather die than come anywhere near here. Magic scared them too much.

Harry had just stood up, surprising Alicia when Cedric opened the door and called out to him.

"Harry, come on, they're waiting for you!" Alicia raised an eyebrow and looked at Harry who looked utterly perplexed.

"You don't think the Dursley's really turned up do you?" he asked

"Not a chance in hell." Alicia shook her head "Besides, they're blood relatives, not family." she said as they walked towards the chamber and opened the door.

Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He had inherited his father's hooked nose. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French to her mother. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, was holding her mother's hand. She waved at Harry, who waved back, grinning. Then both twins saw Mrs. Weasley and Bill standing in front of the fire-place, beaming at him.

"Surprise!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly as Harry smiled broadly and Alicia rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Of course." she said as they walked over to them.

"Thought we'd come and watch you, Harry!" Mrs Weasley bent down and kissed Harry on the cheek.

"You all right?" said Bill, grinning at Harry and shaking his hand. "Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail."

"He was." Alicia nodded "Did a fabulous job against the mer-foke too." she smiled

"Alicia, aren't you supposed to be taking an exam?" Mrs Weasley asked

"I was exempted from this last one." Alicia smiled "As family was here and all." Mrs Weasley looked at her confused "I'll tell you later Mrs Weasley." Alicia chuckled.

Fleur Delacour, Harry noticed, was eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. Harry could tell she had no objection whatsoever to long hair or earrings with fangs on them.

"This is really nice of you," Harry muttered to Mrs. Weasley. "I thought for a moment — the Dursleys —"

"Hmm," said Mrs. Weasley, pursing her lips. She had always refrained from criticising the Dursleys in front of Harry, but her eyes flashed every time they were mentioned.

Alicia chuckled.

"I almost thought of Snuffles too but that would be ridiculous." she said and Harry raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's great being back here," said Bill, looking around the chamber (Violet, the Fat Lady's friend, winked at him from her frame). "Haven't seen this place for five years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan?"

"Oh yeah," said Harry, who had met Sir Cadogan the previous year.

"Yeah he took over guarding the entrance to Gryffindor common room last year for a bit when Sirius Black slashed the Fat lady's portrait." Alicia chuckled "Was a nightmare, changed the password three times a week."

"The Fat Lady?" said Bill.

"She was here in my time," said Mrs. Weasley. "She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning —"

"What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?" said Bill, surveying his mother with amazement.

Mrs. Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling.

"Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll," she said. "He got caught by Apollyon Pringle — he was the caretaker in those days — your father's still got the marks." Alicia laughed

"Fancy giving us a tour, Harry?" said Bill.

"Yeah, okay," said Harry, and they made their way back toward the door into the Great Hall. As they passed Amos Diggory, he looked around.

"There you are, are you?" he said, looking Harry up and down.

"Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?"

"What?" said Harry.

"Ignore him," said Cedric in a low voice to Harry, frowning after his father. "He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament — you know, when she made out you were the only Hogwarts champion."

"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did he?" said Amos Diggory, loudly enough for Harry to hear as he started to walk out of the door with Mrs. Weasley and Bill. "Still… you'll show him, Ced. Beaten him once before, haven't you?"

"Rita Skeeter goes out of her way to cause trouble, Amos!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily. "I would have thought you'd know that, working at the Ministry!"

Mr. Diggory looked as though he was going to say something angry, but his wife laid a hand on his arm, and he merely shrugged and turned away.

"Cedric," Alicia said stopping beside him "I like your dad, but if he continues these stupid accusations, I'm going to want to punch him in the face." Alicia got a smile from Cedric about that as she patted his arm and continued after Harry and the two Weasleys.

"By the way Mrs Weasley," Alicia began "If you don't believe Rita Skeeter, why'd you send Hermione such a terribly small egg for Christmas?" she asked.

Mrs Weasley didn't answer.

It was a very enjoyable morning walking over the sunny grounds with Bill and Mrs. Weasley, showing them the Beauxbatons carriage and the Durmstrang ship. Mrs. Weasley was intrigued by the Whomping Willow, which had been planted after she had left school, and reminisced at length about the gamekeeper before Hagrid, a man called Ogg.

"How's Percy?" Harry asked as they walked around the greenhouses.

"Not good," said Bill.

"He's very upset," said Mrs. Weasley, lowering her voice and glancing around. "The Ministry wants to keep Mr. Crouch's disappearance quiet, but Percy's been hauled in for questioning about the instructions Mr. Crouch has been sending in. They seem to think there's a chance they weren't genuinely written by him. Percy's been under a lot of strain. They're not letting him fill in for Mr. Crouch as the fifth judge tonight. Cornelius Fudge is going to be doing it."

"I feel bad for Percy, I still think Crouch was under the Imperius curse, he was muttering all kinds of nonsense." Alicia admitted

They returned to the castle for lunch.

"Mum — Bill!" said Ron, looking stunned, as he joined the Gryffindor table. "What're you doing here?"

"Come to watch Harry in the last task!" said Mrs. Weasley brightly. "I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. How was your exam?"

"Oh… okay," said Ron. "Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few. It's all right," he said, helping himself to a Cornish pasty, while Mrs. Weasley looked stern, "they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard."

"I need to find out if I need to make it up or not…" Alicia muttered

"Why were you exempt from the exam?" Fred asked as he, Ginny and George joined them

"Haven't you worked it out yet Fred? It has to do with who my favourite set of twins are," she grinned. Fred looked annoyed.

Hermione turned up also through lunch and Harry went to ask her about her breakthrough on Rita Skeeter.

"Are you going to tell us — ?"

Hermione shook her head warningly and glanced at Mrs. Weasley.

"Hello, Hermione," said Mrs. Weasley, much more stiffly than usual.

"Hello," said Hermione, her smile faltering at the cold expression on Mrs. Weasley's face.

Alicia rolled her eyes.

Harry looked between them, then said, "Mrs. Weasley, you didn't believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote in _Witch Weekly,_ did you? Because Hermione's not my girlfriend."

"Oh!" said Mrs. Weasley. "No — of course I didn't!"

But she became considerably warmer toward Hermione after that.

Harry, Alicia, Bill, and Mrs. Weasley whiled away the afternoon with a long walk around the castle, and then returned to the Great Hall for the evening feast. Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge had joined the staff table now. Bagman looked quite cheerful, but Cornelius Fudge, who was sitting next to Madame Maxime, looked stern and was not talking. Madame Maxime was concentrating on her plate, and Harry thought her eyes looked red. Hagrid kept glancing along the table at her.

"Bet something happened." Alicia muttered as she followed his gaze, "As Hagrid refused to forgive her."

There were more courses than usual, but Harry, who was apparently starting to feel really nervous now, didn't eat much. As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."

Alicia turned to Harry and pulled him into a hug.

"Be extra careful, if someone wants to make a move on your life, a maze sounds perfect for it." she muttered "But as you've fought off Voldemort twice, no one else should be nearly as scary. At least not more than a giant hundreds of years old snake." Harry smirked at her as he hugged her back before he got up. The Gryffindors all along the table were applauding him; the Weasleys and Hermione all wished him good luck as well, and he headed off out of the Great Hall with Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor.

"I hope he'll be alright."

"He had family come to visit him specially." Alicia smiled "Besides this maze isn't like anything we haven't done before." she shrugged and Hermione shot her a look.

Not five minutes later Dumbledore asked everyone in the Great Hall to follow Ludo and the champions to the Quidditch pitch. Twenty-foot-high hedges ran all around the outside and crisscrossed and intersected through the middle. It looked nothing like a Quidditch pitch anymore. There was a single gap at the end of the Quidditch pitch,

Alicia, the Weasleys and Hermione filed into one of the stands amongst the crowd, all chatting excitedly as the stands were filled. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear.

Alicia watched as Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick and Hagrid approached the champions and Bagman. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest.

They spoke quickly to the Champions before they walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze.

Bagman's voice was next to fill the air amongst the exciting chatter.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each — Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!" The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. "In second place, with eighty points — Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "And in third place — Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"

Alicia, Mrs Weasley, Ron, Bill and Hermione all applauded Fleur before Harry waved up at them, all waving back.

"So… on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three — two — one —"

He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze.

Harry and Credic could be seen by the lights of their wands before they split up. Ludo's whistle blew again and Krum ran forwards as well. After a few minutes Fleur was allowed to follow and everyone was within the maze.

Alicia sat in her seat, trying to watch were the champions were. For some reason there was an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, like something was wrong. This however could of been coming from Harry as he walked through the dark hedges.

They heard what Alicia knew was the sound of a Blast-ended skrewt and assumed Hagrid had added some into the maze. Fleur's shouts were heard here and there and lots of blasts from the Champions wands.

Alicia couldn't manage to sit still, her leg was jumping up and down as she bounced in her seat.

"Alicia will you stop it?" Hermione hissed

"I can't." Alicia muttered, grinding her teeth slightly "I don't feel right."

"Go to the hospital wing?" Hermione offered

"I don't feel sick." She assured, the crumby feeling in her stomach had nothing to do with a stomach bug, it was nerves, but she couldn't tell what they were directed at. For some reason, she didn't believe it was just about Harry getting out of the tournament.

And then, through the somewhat silent dusk, a scream shattered the silence. Many people were out of their seats, standing up to see what happened. The teachers could be seen running from their patrols around the edge.

Alicia was one of the ones standing from her seat as she worried about Fleur. Her eyes followed the teachers before something caught her attention, out off the star covered teachers, there was one missing.

Where was Mad-eye Moody?

Fleur was removed from the race as Bagman gave the commentary best he could. No one was one hundred percent sure what was occurring within the maze.

"Alicia, the teachers have got her, sit down." Ron assured but Alicia shook her head.

"No, something's wrong." she muttered and she move from her seat along the stand. She stood at the end and looked around at the teachers. McGonagall was white faced but fierce as usual, Flitwick was tiny and kinda funny to watch. Hagrid looked excited, clearly hoping to meet one of the creatures he'd put in the maze. But Moody could not be seen. Alicia didn't understand.

Alicia went to make her way down the stairs, looking back at the maze as she did. No one stopped her as she hit the grass below the stands and moved around the now maze turned Quidditch pitch.

A light shot up from the maze and Alicia turned to see the red sparks up in the air. Her eyes widened and she moved to run around the pitch.

Bagman's voice echoed over the grounds explaining that Krum was out of the running as well as Fleur. That only left Harry and Cedric.

Moody's absence was worrying her. Had he found Crouch's son? Or was he being over paranoid? Only something important would cause him to leave his post. Well, if there was an intruder, no one would believe May-eye of all people anyway, after all, the man called an alarm over some dustbins. Who enchants dustbins to attack unprovoked anyway?

Alicia stopped running and ducked into the hedge beside her as Flitwick appeared. She managed to wiggle her way close enough into the branches that he walked straight past her without noticing.

 _What if he actually was provoked?_ a voice in her head asked her

"That'd be stupid because Moody didn't report that." Alicia muttered to herself as she ran.

 _You're the one who gets a chill whenever you're around Moody._

Alicia bit her lip, that was true.

Alicia stopped as a sound of the thumping leg she had grown to know reached her ears. She thought she'd feel relieved, he was still patrolling like he was supposed to, that wasn't suspicious. But for some reason, Alicia's hair's stood on end and her heart beat quickened. She knew it was Moody, and for some reason that didn't make her feel any better.

Alicia stood, staring ahead as her before a pain suddenly shot through her leg and she collapsed onto her knees, grabbing her leg as she hissed. However, looking down there was nothing there.

"Harry…" she breathed before looking up to see Moody round the corner. He didn't look at all surprised to see her and he grinned. It sent a shiver down her spin and she had the urge to get up and run as far away as possible.

 _He hasn't found Crouch._ she realised

 _So the death eater's still running around, probably in the maze with Harry._ the logical voice in her head said.

 _That'd be too risky, what if he got caught?_

 _Wouldn't matter if he finished the job._

 _After all the effort Crouch went through… he snuck into Snape's office, rather risky if you ask me._

Alicia's eyebrows pushed together. That's right… Barty Crouch stole from Snape's private stores…

 _But why?_

 _You thought it was his son…_

 _It had to have been,_ she breathed _Nothing else made sense, but he didn't get caught? No one saw him, and what was he stealing anyway?_ _How was Crouch moving around without being seen?_

 _Rita Skeeter did it, so did Sirius._

 _But he'd need to change at some point in order to make all these things work…_

 _Maybe a disguise?_ Alicia's eyes widened

 _Poly juice potion! That's why they're robbing Snape!_

"What are you doing Evans?" Moody asked

"I was worried." she muttered _If Crouch is using poly juice potion, who's he turning into? It would have to be someone knew… but it's the Triwizard Tournament, there are many…_

 _But only one of them is close to Harry._

Alicia swallowed.

"If Potter was in trouble he'd send up sparks." Moody thought, his magical eye moved to look through the hedges anyway.

"No he wouldn't, he's made it this far, he'd refuse to give that up. Besides… someone would make sure he was fine."

"What makes you say that?"

"Someone put his name in the goblet in the first place, after going through so much trouble to do so, you think they'll give up to get what they want?" Alicia asked

"Smart." Moody nodded "A very good point. You and Potter are very alike."

"I've been told." Alicia got to her feet "You already know why though," she brushed her legs down, there was a slight pinch in her leg, but she knew it wasn't her pain.

 _If he's here, than Harry… Harry's still alive… is he hoping something else will finish him?_ Alicia questioned

"Did he tell you he'd make a good Aurur? You would too Evans." Moody smiled

"Thanks." she muttered. She clearly wasn't as important as Harry, if she made a move or let slip she'd figured it out, she probably wouldn't be around much longer. She knew it was fishy Moody turned up when Crouch arrived. Snape would never have told him anything, but he had the Map, her and Harry's map. He'd know they talked to Snape. He'd also know exactly where they were. And without the map, Harry and Alicia couldn't see Crouch on it again.

If Mr Crouch was going to blab, his son would need to stop him before anyone could listen to the seemingly nonsense babble. Moody had run into the forest, what's the betting he'd found Crouch… the likely hood that Bartimus Crouch Senior was still with them seemed limited. And Moody wouldn't have had to look far, he had the map. Crouch would have shown up. And so would his son, Mad-Eye Moody was just the outside cover, something that couldn't fool the map.

They saw the correct name, Bartimus Crouch. But not Crouch, Crouch Junior. They had the same name, the map didn't care for Seniors and Juniors, they were just to distinguish which was the point of conversation or which was being called when needed.

"Do you know what's going on inside the maze?" Alicia asked softly

"Potter's fine." Moody assured her as he moved closer. Alicia had to fight the very strong urge to back away. She watched as his magical eye looked into the hedges, was he watching Harry?

"How do you know?"

"He's survived the first two tasks didn't he?"

"He had help."

"Did he not have help with this one?" Moody wondered

"He had help to learn a heap of spells, but there's no one to save him in there this time, no one to guide him." Alicia muttered

"Do you usually do that?"

"As much as I can." Alicia whispered "He is my brother after all." Moody merely nodded.

"By the way Evans," Moody walked right up to her and Alicia balled her hands into fists to keep herself from moving or making a sound. "I think it's time you had this back." and he held out the Marauders map.

Alicia looked at him confused.

"Don't you need it more?" She whispered, why would he give his only disadvantage away for someone to uncover him with? It was what was keeping him from being discovered was it not? Everything had worked fine without Harry and Alicia having the map.

"After tonight, it wont matter." Moody grinned and Alicia bit her lip

"How come?" But Moody didn't answer as his Magical eye settled on her for a minute and then turned back to the hedge again.

Alicia held her hand out and took the map cautiously. When she had Moody turned and limped out of sight along side the hedge.

Alicia immediately unfolded the map, it was still active, Alicia wasn't surprised, Moody had no idea how to work it, just of how it worked. Alicia found herself on the map and then followed the parchment to see the figure that was hobbling away from her. Alicia looked after him with a glare on her face.

Bartimus Crouch was written beside it.

 _He knew I'd see this… why'd he give it to me and risk everything?_ she questioned. She them remembered Hermione, Ron, Mrs Weasley, Bill… they needed to know, she had to tell someone!

Alicia turned to run towards the stands again, she didn't care if she had to expose the map as proof she'd use it to explain about Crouch Junior.

Alicia however had hardly taken two steps before she felt a pull behind her naval and her feet were yanked away from the ground, sending her spinning and flying through the air. Wind howled in her ears and colour swirled before her eyes before, just as quickly as it had begun, everything ended.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: 

Alicia hit the ground and the map fell from her hands. Her face came into contact with grass and the smell of earth filled her nose. There was hardly a sound, the air was eery and silent. When she looked up, Alicia found herself in a graveyard. Her eyes settled on the map and her expression turned angry.

 _That's why he gave it to me! He made it a portkey!_ She ground her teeth before grabbing the map and waiting.

Nothing happened.

Frustrated, she folded it up. She'd half expected it to take her back to Hogwarts, as she was sure she was no where near there now, but it didn't. This portkey only worked one way, was only a portkey once.

Moody didn't want her leaving here.

No, not Moody, Crouch Junior.

Alicia got to her feet and looked around. She looked around the graveyard, a church was in the distance but beyond that was a grand house. Alicia's eyes widened, she knew that house. It was the house from her dream in the summer.

She looked around but nothing seemed out of place, and yet, everything was. The mountains around Hogwarts were no where in sight, the castle itself far away, the black lake not within the vicinity. The Portkey had taken her far away from the castle, and she had no transport back.

Alicia turned and walked cautiously through the graveyard, clearly this was either to get her out of the way, or put her in trouble. Which ever Crouch wanted, it wouldn't be nice to her. Alicia began to pull her wand out of her pocket, but hesitated, she remembered last year when everyone was disarming everyone else and loosing their wands in the shrieking shack, she was the only one smart enough to pocket her wand before hand, never being left defenceless. This time she was torn as to which to do.

Alicia's thoughts were interrupted as a searing pain exploded through her neck. She had to fight the urge to scream her lungs out, knowing someone would hear it and come to investigate. If Crouch sent her here for a purpose, that wasn't what she wanted.

Alicia's knees gave way as she collapsed under the pain, her teeth clamped shut together as she closed her eyes and placed her hand on the side of her neck. It was agony, almost like being stabbed over and over again, or burned from the inside.

Despite the pain however Alicia heard someone shouting not far off, a cry of pain. She opened her eyes and looked around before seeing a hooded figure not to far to her right.

Alicia staggered as she got to her feet and moved through the graves, curiosity getting the better of her as she did her best to ignore the pain, a real difficulty as she grabbed a nearby gravestone to brace herself as she stumbled sideways.

She squinted, trying to see through the black dots beginning to cloud her vision before her eyes widened. The shouting had gotten louder as she'd walked, and now she could see who it was that was screaming.

It was Harry!

He was on his knees, his head on his hand as he shouted. But worse then that, Cedric was beside him looking utterly confused. He looked at the mysterious hooded figure as Alicia ground her teeth as the pain became unbearable. She looked back as the figure, whoever it was, he was short, and his hood obscured his face. From the way he stood he looked like he was holding something, it almost looked like a baby… or was it merely a bundle of robes?

And then a voice left the figure, it was high, cold and sent shivers down her spine as her hairs stood on end.

" _Kill the spare._ " Alicia's eyes widened and if not for the pain in her neck she would have shouted as the figure raised a wand and a second voice screeched the words to the night: "Avada Kedavra!"

The graveyard was lit up by a green light and Cedric suddenly hit the floor. Alicia gasped and her knees buckled as he lay spread-eagled on the ground beside her brother, his eyes open, his mouth half open as he looked slightly surprised.

Alicia was too busy staring as Cedric to notice the pain in her neck was diminishing until it vanished completely. Harry suddenly opened his eyes and turned to look at the now dead boy as well.

Alicia could hardly believe it as she looked back at the short man. He wasn't waisting any time as he put his bundle down and then moved towards Harry, pulling him to his feet. There was a marble head stone near the bundle now on the floor and Harry was dragged over towards it, the name flashing in the wand light.

Alicia stared at it shocked.

TOM RIDDLE

The cloaked man conjured tight cords around Harry and tied him from neck to ankles to the headstone. There were shallow fast breaths coming from the hood as Harry struggled, only to have the man hit him in return.

Something must have given Harry realisation for he suddenly gasped.

"You!" he knew who the hooded man was.

Seeing the bundle and knowing Voldemort's loyal servant had sent her here, reminded Alicia of her dream, seeing Voldemort somewhat fragile and hardly human. Her neck hurt where her scar was permanently etched into her skin and she feared seeing it again, this time with her own eyes.

 _But if that bundle is…_ Alicia gasped and watched the man as he hurried away from Harry and around to grab something.

The hooded man had to be Wormtail!

Alicia suddenly remembered Harry telling her about Trelawney's prediction

 _"The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight… the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was. Tonight… before midnight… the servant… will set out… to rejoin… his master…"_

Alicia felt her breath hitch in her throat and she clung to the headstone tightly, Voldemort was going to come back! And somehow, Wormtail needed Harry to do so…

 _But why am I here? Couldn't I interfere?_

 _Unless he needs you too…_

Alicia shook her head and tried to concentrate on something else, anything. But her eyes landed on Cedric, lying dead on the floor. This place was like a nightmare come true, her brother was in trouble, her classmate was dead, and Voldemort was coming back, helped along by a friend of her dad's.

 _It's so messed up._ Alicia closed her eyes and turned away from the scene, a gold glow caught her attention and Alicia's eyes widened as she saw the Triwizard Cup.

 _The Cup! Crouch turned it into a Portkey as well!_ she ground her teeth in aggravation, it was all Mr Crouch's fault, and not his son's but Crouch Senior. If he'd just left his son in Azkaban! Clearly he'd gotten him out somehow, for he was the one who hid him!

Alicia tried to take a deep breath to get her bearings back, blaming Crouch was pointless, there was nothing that could be done now. She didn't know how Voldemort was about to rise again so she had no clue how to stop it.

Alicia turned back to Harry, maybe she could release him… but if she drew attention to herself, would they both be in trouble? Alicia shook her head, she didn't care about herself, she cared about being able to do something, the only reason for staying silent would be to use it to sneak around to Harry and release his bindings.

She went a twinge in her neck, where her scar sat as she tried to push herself to her feet. The pain being ignored she was able to walk, stumbling a little, silently across the ground. She hid behind the headstones as she watched Harry. However she froze when she saw the giant snake coiling around at his feet. The snake Harry said Voldemort was going to feed him to. It was giant, bigger then it should've been.

Could it sense her? If it was Voldemort's her parsletongue wouldn't work. She knew snakes felt vibrations and smelled you through the wind.

She was running out of options, quickly.

Wormtail came back into sight as he dragged a cauldron across the ground, water sloshing around inside. He placed it at the foot of Harry's headstone before bending down and lighting a fire beneath it. The fire drove the snake into the darkness.

The liquid in the cauldron seemed to heat very fast. The surface began not only to bubble, but to send out fiery sparks, as though it were on fire. Steam was thickening, blurring the outline of Wormtail tending the fire. The movements beneath the robes, where the curled up deformed body of Voldemort hid, became more agitated. And the high, cold voice sounded again.

" _Hurry_!"

The whole surface of the water was alight with sparks now. It might have been encrusted with diamonds.

"It is ready, Master."

" _Now…_ " said the cold voice. Alicia stopped and crouched behind the headstone staring with fear in her eyes. " _Now…_ " said the cold voice.  
Wormtail pulled open the robes on the ground, revealing what was inside them, and Harry let out a yell that was strangled in the wad of material blocking his mouth.

Alicia closed her eyes and looked away from the shape of a crouched human child, except that it was hairless and scaly-looking, as it had been in her dream, dark, raw, red-dish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes.

The thing seemed almost helpless; it raised its thin arms, put them around Wormtail's neck, and Wormtail lifted it. As he did so, his hood fell back, and the look of revulsion on Wormtail's weak, pale face in the firelight was revealed as he carried the creature to the rim of the cauldron. For one moment the flat face illuminated in the sparks danced on the surface of the potion. And then Wormtail lowered the creature into the cauldron; there was a hiss, and it vanished below the surface; Alicia heard its frail body hit the bottom with a soft thud.

She held her breath, hoping it would drown, hoping it was water within the cauldron and not the beginnings of a potion that was going to bring nightmares to everyone.

Wormtail was speaking. His voice shook; he seemed frightened beyond his wits. He raised his wand, closed his eyes, and spoke to the night.

" _Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!_ "

The surface of the grave at Harry's feet cracked. Horrified, the twins watched as a fine trickle of dust rose into the air at Wormtail's command and fell softly into the cauldron. The diamond surface of the water broke and hissed; it sent sparks in all directions and turned a vivid, poisonous-looking blue.

And now Wormtail was whimpering. He pulled a long, thin, shining silver dagger from inside his cloak. His voice broke into petrified sobs.

" _Flesh — of the servant — w-willingly given — you will — revive — your master._ "

He stretched his right hand out in front of him — the hand with the missing finger. He gripped the dagger very tightly in his left hand and swung it upward.

Alicia closed her eyes not willing to see Peter cut his own hand off. The scream pierced through the night as a thud sounded, the severed hand having fallen to the grass. Alicia couldn't help it and she looked up to see blood all over the ground. Wormtail picked up his hand and put it in the cauldron with the deformed body and dirt. The potion was no longer blue, but red.

Wormtail was gasping and moaning with agony, but he turned to Harry and Alicia had to grip on the headstone to stop herself from getting up and pushing him away from her brother.

"B-blood of the enemy… forcibly taken… you will… resurrect your foe."

Alicia watched with wide eyes as Wormtail took the point of the dagger to the crook of Harry's arm and pressed down, slicing the skin and causing blood to seep down his sleeve. Wormtail, still panting with pain, fumbled in his pocket for a glass vial and held it to Harry's cut, so that a dribble of blood fell into it.

Alicia waited for Wormtail to turn and watched as he poured Harry's blood into the cauldron. The liquid within turned, instantly, a blinding white. Wormtail, his job done, dropped to his knees beside the cauldron, then slumped sideways and lay on the ground, cradling the bleeding stump of his arm, gasping and sobbing.

The cauldron was simmering, sending its diamond sparks in all directions, so blindingly bright that it turned all else to velvety blackness. Nothing happened… Alicia practically had her fingers crossed, hoping it would stay that way.

The sparks emanating from the cauldron were extinguished. A surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron instead, obliterating everything in front of Harry, he and Wormtail were blocked from Alicia's view and she could see nothing but vapour hanging in the air…

 _It had failed… it hadn't worked… please nothing have happened._

That hope was diminished quickly.

Through the mist in front of Harry, Alicia saw, with an icy surge of terror, the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron.

"Robe me," said the high, cold voice from behind the steam, and Wormtail, sobbing and moaning, still cradling his mutilated arm, scrambled to pick up the black robes from the ground, got to his feet, reached up, and pulled them one-handed over his master's head.

The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at Harry… and Harry stared back into the face that had haunted his nightmares for three years. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils…

Lord Voldemort had risen again.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32:

Alicia stared horror struck. The man who was supposed to be dead, the reason Harry was famous, all of it was meaningless as Voldemort himself stood in the graveyard with them. He was pale and thin, the robes billowing around him as though weightless.

The man was examining his own body as he looked away from Harry. His hands were like large, pale spiders; his long white fingers caressed his own chest, his arms, his face; the red eyes, whose pupils were slits, like a cat's, gleamed still more brightly through the darkness. He held up his hands and flexed the fingers, his expression rapt and exultant. He took not the slightest notice of Wormtail, who lay twitching and bleeding on the ground, nor of the great snake, which had slithered back into sight and was circling Harry again, hissing. Voldemort slipped one of those unnaturally long-fingered hands into a deep pocket and drew out a wand. He caressed it gently too; and then he raised it, and pointed it at Wormtail, who was lifted off the ground and thrown against the headstone where Harry was tied; he fell to the foot of it and lay there, crumpled up and crying. Voldemort turned his scarlet eyes upon Harry, laughing a high, cold, mirthless laugh.

Wormtail's robes were shining with blood now; he had wrapped the stump of his arm in them.

"My Lord…" he choked, "my Lord… you promised… you did promise…"

"Hold out your arm," said Voldemort lazily.

"Oh Master… thank you, Master…"

He extended the bleeding stump, but Voldemort laughed again. "The other arm, Wormtail."

"Master, please… _please_ …"

Voldemort bent down and pulled out Wormtail's left arm; he forced the sleeve of Wormtail's robes up past his elbow, and Harry saw something in which Alicia couldn't see but knew what was there, the Dark Mark, in which all the death eaters were branded with. She suspected it was the same as the mark that had appeared within the sky at the World Cup. Voldemort examined it carefully, ignoring Wormtail's uncontrollable weeping.

"It is back," he said softly, "they will all have noticed it… and now, we shall see… now we shall know…"

He pressed his long white forefinger to the brand on Wormtail's arm.

Harry's face screwed up in pain as Alicia felt the same seared sharp pain though her neck as Wormtail let out a fresh howl.

Voldemort removed his fingers from Wormtail's mark, and Harry looked back down at it again.

A look of cruel satisfaction on his face, Voldemort straightened up, threw back his head, and stared around at the dark graveyard.

"How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" he whispered, his gleaming red eyes fixed upon the stars. "And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?"

He began to pace up and down before Harry and Wormtail, eyes sweeping the graveyard all the while. Alicia had ducked behind the headstone out of sight as he looked around, listening to his footsteps and using them as a guide for when it was safe. She didn't know if he'd seen her, but as no footsteps approached she assumed he hadn't.

"You stand, Harry Potter, upon the remains of my late father," he hissed softly. "A Muggle and a fool… very like your dear mother." Alicia ground her teeth in irritation "But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you and your sister as children… and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proved himself, in death…"

Voldemort laughed again. Up and down he paced, looking all around him as he walked, and the snake continued to circle in the grass.

"You see that house upon the hillside, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was… He didn't like magic, my father…

"He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was even born, Potter, and she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage… but I vowed to find him… I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name… _Tom Riddle_ …"

Still he paced, his red eyes darting from grave to grave.

"Listen to me, reliving family history…" he said quietly, "why, I am growing quite sentimental… But look, Harry! My _true_ family returns…"

Alicia's thought of how he did not know what family was, or even compassion or respect or love was, was interrupted by the swishing of cloaks. Taking a deep breath Alicia turned to look around the headstone again.

Between graves, behind the yew tree, in every shadowy space, wizards were Apparating. All of them were hooded and masked. And one by one they moved forward… slowly, cautiously, as though they could hardly believe their eyes. Voldemort stood in silence, waiting for them. Then one of the Death Eaters fell to his knees, crawled toward Voldemort, and kissed the hem of his black robes.

"Master… Master…" he murmured.

The Death Eaters behind him did the same; each of them approaching Voldemort on his knees and kissing his robes, before backing away and standing up, forming a silent circle, which enclosed Tom Riddle's grave, Harry, Voldemort, and the sobbing and twitching heap that was Wormtail. Alicia was blocked from view of Voldemort by a death eater, but luckily was far enough away that she was not entrapped within the circle, or worse, spotted.

They left gaps in the circle, as though waiting for more people. Voldemort, however, did not seem to expect more. He looked around at the hooded faces, and though there was no wind, a rustling seemed to run around the circle, as though it had shivered.

"Welcome, Death Eaters," said Voldemort quietly. "Thirteen years… thirteen years since last we met. Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday… We are still united under the Dark Mark, then! _Or are we_?"

He put back his terrible face and sniffed, his slit-like nostrils widening.

"I smell guilt," he said. "There is a stench of guilt upon the air."

A second shiver ran around the circle, as though each member of it longed, but did not dare, to step back from him.

"I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact — such prompt appearances! — and I ask myself… why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?"

No one spoke. No one moved except Wormtail, who was upon the ground, still sobbing over his bleeding arm.

"And I answer myself," whispered Voldemort, "they must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment…

"And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power in the times when I was mightier than any wizard living?"

Alicia's eyes narrowed in confusion, Voldemort was immortal? The idea was terrifying and scared her but yet, she did not understand how this was possible.

"And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort… perhaps they now pay allegiance to another… perhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?"

At the mention of Dumbledore's name, the members of the circle stirred, and some muttered and shook their heads. Voldemort ignored them.

"It is a disappointment to me… I confess myself disappointed…"

One of the men suddenly flung himself forward, breaking the circle. Trembling from head to foot, he collapsed at Voldemort's feet.

"Master!" he shrieked, "Master, forgive me! Forgive us all!" Voldemort began to laugh. He raised his wand.

" _Crucio_!"

The Death Eater on the ground writhed and shrieked; Alicia was sure the sound must carry to the houses around. But the idea of muggles hearing, did not bring her any reassurance.

Voldemort raised his wand. The tortured Death Eater lay flat upon the ground, gasping.

"Get up, Avery," said Voldemort softly. "Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. Thirteen long years… I want thirteen years' repayment before I forgive you. Wormtail here has paid some of his debt already, have you not, Wormtail?"

He looked down at Wormtail, who continued to sob.

"You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your old friends. You deserve this pain, Wormtail. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes, Master," moaned Wormtail, "please, Master… please…

"Yet you helped return me to my body," said Voldemort coolly, watching Wormtail sob on the ground. "Worthless and traitorous as you are, you helped me… and Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers…"

Voldemort raised his wand again and whirled it through the air. A streak of what looked like molten silver hung shining in the wand's wake. Momentarily shapeless, it writhed and then formed itself into a gleaming replica of a human hand, bright as moonlight, which soared downward and fixed itself upon Wormtail's bleeding wrist.

Wormtail's sobbing stopped abruptly. His breathing harsh and ragged, he raised his head and stared in disbelief at the silver hand, now attached seamlessly to his arm, as though he were wearing a dazzling glove. He flexed the shining fingers, then, trembling, picked up a small twig on the ground and crushed it into powder.

"My Lord," he whispered. "Master… it is beautiful… thank you… _thank you…_ "

He scrambled forward on his knees and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes.

"May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail," said Voldemort.

"No, my Lord… never, my Lord…"

Wormtail stood up and took his place in the circle, staring at his powerful new hand, his face still shining with tears. Voldemort now approached the man on Wormtail's right.

"Lucius, my slippery friend," he whispered, halting before him. Alicia's eyes narrowed, not at all surprised to hear the name. "I am told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? Yet you never tried to find me, Lucius… Your exploits at the Quidditch World Cup were fun, I daresay… but might not your energies have been better directed toward finding and aiding your master?"

"My Lord, I was constantly on the alert," came Lucius Malfoy's voice swiftly from beneath the hood. "Had there been any sign from you, any whisper of your whereabouts, I would have been at your side immediately, nothing could have prevented me —"

"And yet you ran from my Mark, when a faithful Death Eater sent it into the sky last summer?" said Voldemort lazily, and Mr. Malfoy stopped talking abruptly. "Yes, I know all about that, Lucius… You have disappointed me… I expect more faithful service in the future."

"Of course, my Lord, of course… You are merciful, thank you…"

Voldemort moved on, and stopped, staring at the space — large enough for two people — that separated Malfoy and the next man. "The Lestranges should stand here," said Voldemort quietly. "But they are entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me… When Azkaban is broken open, the Lestranges will be honoured beyond their dreams. The dementors will join us… they are our natural allies… we will recall the banished giants … I shall have all my devoted servants returned to me, and an army of creatures whom all fear…"

Alicia took note of every plan he had, despite not knowing if she'd be able to tell anyone after this. After all, she wasn't leaving without Harry.

He walked on. Some of the Death Eaters he passed in silence, but he paused before others and spoke to them.

"Macnair… destroying dangerous beasts for the Ministry of Magic now, Wormtail tells me? You shall have better victims than that soon, Macnair. Lord Voldemort will provide…"

"Thank you, Master… thank you," murmured Macnair.

"And here" — Voldemort moved on to the two largest hooded figures — "we have Crabbe… you will do better this time, will you not, Crabbe? And you, Goyle?"

They bowed clumsily, muttering dully.

"Yes, Master…"

"We will, Master…"

"The same goes for you, Nott," said Voldemort quietly as he walked past a stooped figure in Mr. Goyle's shadow.

"My Lord, I prostrate myself before you, I am your most faithful —"

"That will do," said Voldemort.

He had reached the largest gap of all, and he stood surveying it with his blank, red eyes, as though he could see people standing there.

"And here we have six missing Death Eaters… three dead in my service. One, too cowardly to return… he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever… he will be killed, of course… and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already reentered my service."

Alicia knew Karkaroff was the one who was too cowardly, and Crouch was the one who was most faithful. Snape was the only death eater she knew of left, was he the one who'd left forever and would die? Dumbledore wouldn't be blind enough to let Snape in unless he was innocent…

The Death Eaters stirred, and Harry saw their eyes dart sideways at one another through their masks.

"He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it was through his efforts that our young friend arrived here tonight…

"Yes," said Voldemort, a grin curling his lipless mouth as the eyes of the circle flashed in Harry's direction. "Harry Potter has kindly joined us for my rebirthing party. One might go so far as to call him my guest of honour." Voldemort said "However he is not our only guest."

Alicia felt the blood drain from her face and her fingers went cold.

"Harry you have seen my family arrive tonight, but did you know that yours was sent as well?" Voldemort questioned and Harry looked at him confused.

"I may not have asked of him, but my faithful servant sent both Potters to me tonight." Alicia clenched her teeth and took a deep breath as she heard the footsteps. She had been seen. How stupid of her.

And when she opened her eyes again the red eyed monster himself stood before her, grinning down at her.

"Welcome to my rebirthing, Alicia Potter."

She was pulled to the circle and Harry looked at her with fear engraved on his face, but she didn't look at him or bother to explain or plead, she watched Voldemort as one of his Death Eaters held her fast, her arms behind her back.

Lucius took no note of her presence as he stepped forwards to speak.

"Master, we crave to know… we beg you to tell us… how you have achieved this… this miracle… how you managed to return to us…"

"Ah, what a story it is, Lucius," said Voldemort. "And it begins — and ends — with my young friends here."

He walked lazily over to stand next to Harry and Alicia who was forced over to them both by the death eater, so that the eyes of the whole circle were upon them. The snake continued to circle.

"You know, of course, that they have called this boy my downfall?" Voldemort said softly, his red eyes upon Harry, whose scar began to burn, sending the pain through their connection to Alicia who scrunched up her eyes but refused to make a noise. "You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His mother died in the attempt to save him — and unwittingly provided him with a protection I admit I had not foreseen… I could not touch the boy." He turned to Alicia who glared in return. "Neither child in fact."

Voldemort raised one of his long white fingers and put it very close to Harry's cheek.

"His mother left upon him the traces of her sacrifice… This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it… but no matter. I can touch him now."

The tip of the long white finger touched Harry and Alicia let out a whimper of pain as her neck felt like it was being sliced off. Voldemort laughed softly in Harry's ear, then took the finger away and continued addressing the Death Eaters.

"I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice, and it rebounded upon myself. Aaah… pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost… but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know… I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal — to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked… for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help myself… for I had no body, and every spell that might have helped me required the use of a wand…

"I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist… I settled in a faraway place, in a forest, and I waited… Surely, one of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find me… one of them would come and perform the magic I could not, to restore me to a body… but I waited in vain…"

The shiver ran once more around the circle of listening Death Eaters. Voldemort let the silence spiral horribly before continuing. "Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited animals — snakes, of course, being my preference — but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magic… and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long…

"Then… four years ago… the means for my return seemed assured. A wizard — young, foolish, and gullible — wandered across my path in the forest I had made my home. Oh, he seemed the very chance I had been dreaming of… for he was a teacher at Dumbledore's school… he was easy to bend to my will… he brought me back to this country, and after a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise him closely as he carried out my orders. But my plan failed. I did not manage to steal the Philosopher's Stone. I was not to be assured immortal life. I was thwarted…thwarted, once again, by Harry and Alicia Potter…"

Silence once more; nothing was stirring, not even the leaves on the yew tree. The Death Eaters were quite motionless, the glittering eyes in their masks fixed upon Voldemort, and upon Alicia and Harry.

"The servant died when I left his body, and I was left as weak as ever I had been," Voldemort continued. "I returned to my hiding place far away, and I will not pretend to you that I didn't then fear that I might never regain my powers… Yes, that was perhaps my darkest hour… I could not hope that I would be sent another wizard to possess… and I had given up hope, now, that any of my Death Eaters cared what had become of me…"

One or two of the masked wizards in the circle moved uncomfortably, but Voldemort took no notice.

"And then, not even a year ago, when I had almost abandoned hope, it happened at last… a servant returned to me. Wormtail here, who had faked his own death to escape justice, was driven out of hiding by those he had once counted friends, and decided to return to his master. He sought me in the country where it had long been rumoured I was hiding… helped, of course, by the rats he met along the way. Wormtail has a curious affinity with rats, do you not, Wormtail? His filthy little friends told him there was a place, deep in an Albanian forest, that they avoided, where small animals like themselves had met their deaths by a dark shadow that possessed them…

"But his journey back to me was not smooth, was it, Wormtail? For, hungry one night, on the edge of the very forest where he had hoped to find me, he foolishly stopped at an inn for some food… and who should he meet there, but one Bertha Jorkins, a witch from the Ministry of Magic.

"Now see the way that fate favours Lord Voldemort. This might have been the end of Wormtail, and of my last hope for regeneration. But Wormtail — displaying a presence of mind I would never have expected from him — convinced Bertha Jorkins to accompany him on a nighttime stroll. He overpowered her… he brought her to me. And Bertha Jorkins, who might have ruined all, proved instead to be a gift beyond my wildest dreams… for — with a little persuasion — she became a veritable mine of information.

"She told me that the Triwizard Tournament would be played at Hogwarts this year. She told me that she knew of a faithful Death Eater who would be only too willing to help me, if I could only contact him. She told me many things… but the means I used to break the Memory Charm upon her were powerful, and when I had extracted all useful information from her, her mind and body were both damaged beyond repair. She had now served her purpose. I could not possess her. I disposed of her."

Voldemort smiled his terrible smile, his red eyes blank and pitiless.

"Wormtail's body, of course, was ill adapted for possession, as all assumed him dead, and would attract far too much attention if noticed. However, he was the able-bodied servant I needed, and, poor wizard though he is, Wormtail was able to follow the instructions I gave him, which would return me to a rudimentary, weak body of my own, a body I would be able to inhabit while awaiting the essential ingredients for true rebirth… a spell or two of my own invention… a little help from my dear Nagini," Voldemort's red eyes fell upon the continually circling snake, "a potion concocted from unicorn blood, and the snake venom Nagini provided… I was soon returned to an almost human form, and strong enough to travel.

"There was no hope of stealing the Philosopher's Stone anymore, for I knew that Dumbledore would have seen to it that it was destroyed. But I was willing to embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortality. I set my sights lower… I would settle for my old body back again, and my old strength.

"I knew that to achieve this — it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight — I would need three powerful ingredients. Well, one of them was already at hand, was it not, Wormtail? Flesh given by a servant…

"My father's bone, naturally, meant that we would have to come here, where he was buried. But the blood of a foe… Wormtail would have had me use any wizard, would you not, Wormtail? Any wizard who had hated me… as so many of them still do. But I knew the one I must use, if I was to rise again, more powerful than I had been when I had fallen. I wanted Harry Potter's blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago… for the lingering protection his mother once gave him would then reside in my veins too…

"But how to get at Harry Potter? For he has been better protected than I think even he knows, protected in ways devised by Dumbledore long ago, when it fell to him to arrange the boy's future. Dumbledore invoked an ancient magic, to ensure the boy's protection as long as he is in his relations' care. Not even I can touch him there… Then, of course, there was the Quidditch World Cup… I thought his protection might be weaker there, away from his relations and Dumbledore, but I was not yet strong enough to attempt kidnap in the midst of a horde of Ministry wizards. And then, the boy would return to Hogwarts, where he is under the crooked nose of that Muggle-loving fool from morning until night. So how could I take him?

"Why… by using Bertha Jorkins's information, of course. Use my one faithful Death Eater, stationed at Hogwarts, to ensure that the boy's name was entered into the Goblet of Fire. Use my Death Eater to ensure that the boy won the tournament — that he touched the Triwizard Cup first — the cup which my Death Eater had turned into a Portkey, which would bring him here, beyond the reach of Dumbledore's help and protection, and into my waiting arms. And here he is… the boy you all believed had been my downfall…" Voldemort then turned to Alicia.

"My faithful servant had to do me one better though. One I did not expect and give me not only Harry but Alicia as well. This way, no one would be left."

Voldemort moved slowly forward and turned to face Harry. He raised his wand.

" _Crucio_!"

It was pain beyond anything Alicia had ever experienced, so high that she felt she was the one being tortured and not Harry; her very bones were on fire; her neck was surely splitting along her scar. All she wanted was for it to go away, for darkness to come, to die and never feel such pain again.

And then it ended.

Alicia was hanging limply within the Death eaters arms as they laughed at them. Voldemort was looking between the two of them.

"Well, this is unexpected." Alicia, panting, looked up at Voldemort who smiled between them both.

He then turned back to Harry, addressing his Death Eaters again.

"You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever have been stronger than me," said Voldemort. "But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance, his sister no different. And I am now going to prove my power by killing them both, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help him, and no mother to die for him. I will give him his chance. Both of them their chance. They will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger. Just a little longer, Nagini," he whispered, and the snake glided away through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood watching.

"Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand."


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33:

Alicia struggled against the Death Eater as Wormtail moved to Harry, who raised his new silver hand, pulled out the wad of material gagging Harry, and then, with one swipe, cut through the bonds tying Harry to the gravestone.

The Death Eater twisted Alicia's arm, causing her to hiss in pain and be pushed forwards a few steps as Harry now stood on the overgrown grave. Alicia saw him wobble and felt the pinch in her leg before looking down Harry's leg. It was covered in blood. Something in the maze had pierced him.

Harry would never be able to run on that…

Alicia looked around trying to figure out the best way to get them both out alive. They needed the cup, the summoning charm would be helpful, if one of them could distract the Death Eaters and Voldemort long enough for Alicia to get to Harry then one of them to summon the cup.

The Death Eaters closed ranks, forming a tighter circle around Harry and Voldemort, so that the gaps where the missing Death Eaters should have stood were filled. Wormtail walked out of the circle to the place where Cedric's body lay and returned with Harry's wand, which he thrust roughly into Harry's hand without looking at him. Then Wormtail resumed his place in the circle of watching Death Eaters.

"You have been taught how to duel, Harry Potter?" said Voldemort softly, his red eyes glinting through the darkness.

They had but only once and it was by the idiot Lockheart. It was where Harry had learnt the disarming spell, " _Expelliarmus_ " something Harry was rather good at. Disarming however wouldn't help Harry here however, even if Voldemort was disarmed, there were Death Eaters all around them, one of which had Alicia. Voldemort was more then likely to use the unforgivable killing curse, Avada Kedavra, in which nothing could stop. Alicia wasn't even sure if her dark spell protection charm would work against it, even so, Harry didn't know that. He knew nothing that could help. Alicia tried to figure out something, her eyes scanned the gravestones from Harry to herself and then to the cup lying near Cedric's body.

No one would be able to save them, no one knew they were here, someone might have noticed Alicia's odd behaviour and her disappearance but they still wouldn't know where to find them. They had to figure something out, and although Alicia's heart was pounding with fear as she watched Harry face the darkest wizard of the age, she tried make her mind piece her surroundings and knowledge together to form some escape.

First of all, she had to remove the Death Eater's hold from her. Without that, trying anything else was useless.

"We bow to each other, Harry," said Voldemort, bending a little, but keeping his snakelike face upturned to Harry. "Come, the niceties must be observed… Dumbledore would like you to show manners… Bow to death, Harry…"

The Death Eaters were laughing again as Alicia sneered at the man, toying with Harry as though he was his food on his plate. Voldemort's lipless mouth was smiling. Harry did not bow and Alicia was proud for her brother making a stand against Voldemort. She didn't look at him to tell him so, just glared at the snake like man before her.

"I said, _bow,_ " Voldemort said, raising his wand. Harry was suddenly being pushed forwards into a bow, as though a huge, invisible hand were bending him ruthlessly forward, and the Death Eaters laughed harder than ever.

"Very good," said Voldemort softly, and as he raised his wand, Harry straightened back. "And now you face me, like a man… straight-backed and proud, the way your father died…" Alicia ground her teeth and looked at Harry. She saw him swallow and his hand on his wand was shaking slightly. She almost expected him to look at her as though to say something, but she wouldn't want to take her eyes off a man who was intending to kill her either.

"And now — we duel."

Voldemort raised his wand, and before Harry could do anything to defend himself, before he could even move, the cruciatus curse was applied to him again.

Alicia bent over in the Death Eater's arm as she retched and the Death Eater bent her arms the wrong way painfully to keep her standing as she felt the Curse through Harry again. White-hot knives were piercing every inch of her skin, her neck was surely going to burst with pain, she was screaming, but Harry was screaming even more loudly than she was, the sound of her brother's screams however, seemed to bring more pain than the curse did, if that was possible.

And then it stopped. Alicia took a deep breath and opened her eyes in time to see Harry roll over and scrambled to his feet; he was shaking as uncontrollably as Wormtail had done when his hand had been cut off; he staggered sideways into the wall of watching Death Eaters, and they pushed him away, back toward Voldemort.

"A little break," said Voldemort, the slit-like nostrils dilating with excitement, "a little pause… That hurt, didn't it, Harry? You don't want me to do that again, do you?"

Alicia couldn't believe he was toying with someone's life, how could someone be so messed up as to be amused by this!? What was it about Harry that Voldemort hated? Why did he want to kill Harry in the first place?

Harry didn't answer but he glanced at Alicia who looked at him with fearful eyes before she looked back through the black robes to the cup. Harry saw her gaze, he understood she was hoping to find something that would get them out. He wasn't hopeful, Alicia could see he believed he was going to die. Die like Cedric had done.

"I asked you whether you want me to do that again," said Voldemort softly. "Answer me! _Imperio_!"

Alicia looked at Harry and waited for him to resist, as he had done so in their classes.

 _Don't answer. Fight it!_ Alicia wished, bitting her lip.

And then Harry burst.

"I WON'T!" The words echoed through the graveyard.

"You won't?" said Voldemort quietly, and the Death Eaters were not laughing now. "You won't say no? Harry, obedience is a virtue I need to teach you before you die… Perhaps another little dose of pain?"

Alicia began to think. She wasn't going through that again and she certainly wasn't letting Harry do it.

She knew spells could be done without a wand, but they weren't as strong. But in order for the Death Eater to release her, if she used something effective, it wouldn't need to be strong. And she had just the spell, a Confundus charm.

All she needed to do, was confuse the Death Eater enough to release her. Her eyes looked at the gravestones around her. She knew she'd need one to hide behind even for a second as spells would no doubtably be shot at her the second the Death Eaters realised she'd escaped.

Voldemort raised his wand, but this time Harry was ready; with the reflexes born of his Quidditch training, he flung himself sideways onto the ground; he rolled behind the marble headstone of Voldemort's father, and he heard it crack as the curse missed him.

Alicia smirked.

"We are not playing hide-and-seek, Harry," said Voldemort's soft, cold voice, drawing nearer, as the Death Eaters laughed. "You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Harry? Come out, Harry… come out and play, then…. it will be quick… it might even be painless… I would not know… I have never died…"

Alicia ground her teeth, she wasn't going to allow this. She wasn't going to stand by and watch this horror unfold, watch a nightmare that should never be real. She'd lost her parents to this monster, she wouldn't loose her brother as well.

Taking a deep breath Alicia closed her eyes and concentrated.

" _Confundus._ " she breathed and the arms around her loosened as the Death Eater suddenly staggered in confusion

"Let go." Alicia commanded and he did, he released her and Alicia elbowed him in the nose before she turned and jumped through the black cloaks and dived behind a head stone. She grabbed her wand as a curse just missed her ear and went flying past before she took a deep breath, gathering her bearings.

She remembered where everyone had been standing as she assumed Voldemort was busy with Harry before she gripped her wand tightly.

" _Stupefy_!" she shouted as she peaked around the grave stone and pointed as she swung her wand. She heard one Death Eater hit the ground, clearly surprised by her attack. Her mind raced through her list of spells, she couldn't do the same thing several times, that would allow for them to have the advantage. She needed to be unpredictable.

" _Impedimenta_!" she shouted next, twice in a row, to fast for the Death Eaters to realise and two more fell, knocking into five more and causing the confusion between them.

Alicia used the distraction and moved from her spot, knowing if she stayed she'd be cornered in some way. As she ran she saw Voldemort advancing on Harry, but she could see them both and Harry's face was for some reason set and determined.

Alicia turned to wave her wand back at the Death Eaters as another spell crossed her mind. Harry saw her from the corner of his eye and they widened.

" _Mobilicorpus_!" She waved her wand and one of the Death Eaters went flying into several others in a flurry of robes.

She ducked her head as Curses were sent her way before she jumped behind another head stone. She turned around to find herself face to face with Harry.

"What are you doing!?" he demanded

"What does it look like!?" she demanded back "I'm not going to watch you die and I'm not planning on dying at all." she placed a hand over her heart and took a deep breath.

"What choice do you have?"

"There's always a choice!" she hissed "We already lost mum and dad, I am not loosing you as well. So think. You're braver than you give yourself credit for, and smarter than it too. You fought a dragon, survived an hour underwater and you've beaten Voldemort twice already. Three times if you count the first time and that wasn't even on purpose!" she whispered as she leaned her ear to listen to the footsteps approaching them.

"Fools!" Voldemort shouted, and they heard a scream as another Cruciatus curse was sent at one of the Death Eaters.

"Mum's not here to protect us this time." Harry said, and Alicia could hear the hurt in his voice.

"No. But neither of us is alone!" she reminded him "Now do me a favour, I know it's kind of a terrifying situation and yes our lives might be on the line but don't you dare give up. Don't you dare leave me." she whispered, pleading.

" _Obscuro_." Harry watched surprised as she suddenly turned and sent another curse. Two Death eaters were blindfolded and began to shoot spells willy nilly, hitting a few other masked men.

Harry looked at her as she leaned back against the grave stone and took a few deep breaths, obviously frightened and trying to calm her erratic heart beat, before he pulled her into an awkward one armed hug.

"That's sweet but we don't have time." she patted his shoulder before she pushed him away.

"You can't take them all on."

"I'm doing alright thanks, don't drown my current hope." she grumbled "I'll be fine, as long as Voldemort's concentrating on you and as long as I have all the Death Eaters hunting me that gives you more of a chance." she breathed

"And if they kill you?"

"I'll try my best as long as you do." she promised "But we need a distraction, some diversion."

"Why?"

"So we can get back to the cup!" sh hissed "It's what brought you here yes!?" he nodded "Then it should hopefully take us back! It's our only chance. If we can get together in it's line and then summon it we can leave instantly!" she explained "We just have to survive that long." she breathed closing her eyes as she swallowed. The screams from the Death Eaters were silenced and the footsteps began again.

"Ready?" she breathed and Harry shook his head. "Good. Me either." she muttered before she closed her eyes.

She jumped out from behind the headstone and dived of another as she saw a red light shot her way.

" _Petrificus Totalus!_ " the Death Eater that'd thrown the curse seized up and fell to the floor, face first. Alicia looked around and spotted a statue headstone.

" _Piertotum Locomotor_!" she pointed and the statue came to life before running at the Death Eaters. She saw two more and did the same, using the distraction to her advantage as she saw Harry get up from his place also and throw his wand forwards.

" _Expelliarmus!_ "

" _Avada Kedavra!_ " both spells were shot at the same time, a jet of green from Voldemort's wand and a jet of red from Harry's. All the Death Eaters were distracted, having blown the statues to pieces easily, as the two jets of light suddenly met in mid air. Harry's hand was shaking violently and it looked as though he couldn't release the hold. A narrow beam of light connected the two wands, neither red nor green, but bright, deep gold. Voldemort's hand was shaking also, vibrating.

Alicia looked at the Death Eaters watching in shock and pursed her lips in determination.

" _Reducto_!" her spell hit the ground and the Death Eaters watching were all thrown off their feet and across the graveyard, into headstones and the yew tree.

She turned back to Harry and Voldemort as suddenly the two were lifted off the ground and raised into the air by their connected wands, the light shimmering. They glided away from the tombstone of Voldemort's father and then came to rest on a patch of ground that was clear and free of graves.

Alicia moved through the graves, keeping gravestones between her and the Death Eaters that were beginning to see their master moving and scrambled to their feet to follow.

Alicia turned for the Portkey, they'd moved away from it. But clearly this had nothing to do with Harry nor Voldemort. This was something caused by the wands.

 _Because they're brothers…_ Alicia's eyes widened as she stood behind Harry, too close for the Death eaters to do anything in fear of hitting Harry and close enough that she'd receive the backlash of anything Voldemort sent to Harry. She wasn't letting him do this alone.

The Death Eaters were shouting; they were asking Voldemort for instructions; they were closing in, reforming the circle around Harry, Alicia and Voldemort, the snake slithering at their heels, some of them drawing their wands.

The golden thread connecting Harry and Voldemort splintered; though the wands remained connected, a thousand more beams arced high over Harry and Voldemort, crisscrossing all around them, until they were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web, a cage of light, beyond which the Death Eaters circled like jackals, their cries strangely muffled now…

"Do nothing!" Voldemort shrieked to the Death Eaters, his red eyes were wide with astonishment at what was happening. Alicia watched as he fought to break the thread of light still connecting his wand with Harry's; Harry held onto his wand more tightly, with both hands, and the golden thread remained unbroken. "Do nothing unless I command you!" Voldemort shouted to the Death Eaters.

Alicia stood behind Harry and pocketed her wand before she stood beside her brother and, as he had both hands on the wand, she also took hold of it. Harry looked at her and she gave him a determined look before he nodded, both of them trying to hold the wand steady.

An unearthly and beautiful sound suddenly began to fill the air… It was coming from every thread of the light-spun web vibrating around Alicia, Harry and Voldemort. It was a sound both Alicia and Harry recognised, though they had heard it only once before in their life: a phoenix song.

It was the sound of hope, both twins had heard it when facing Voldemort last time, or at least a memory of him, in the Chamber of Secrets just before they battled the basilisk. This song had inspired Hope, it had gotten them through that deadly task to save Ron's sister Ginny, and further still, the school. It was the most beautiful and welcome thing she had ever heard in her life, bringing the hope she wanted to believe in as she hoped they'd get out alive. It felt as though the song was inside them instead of just around them… It was the sound connected to Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, and by extension, Dumbledore. It was almost as though a friend were speaking in their ears…

 _Don't break the connection._

Despite this, though both twins knew not too, the wand shook and vibrated more powerfully then ever, making keeping the line straight a very hard thing to do, that Alicia placed her other hand over Harry's to try and keep it steady.

The beam between the twins and Voldemort began to change as the wands shook harder. It was as though large beads of light were sliding up and down the thread connecting the wands — Harry and Alicia felt Harry's wand give a shudder under their hands as the light beads began to slide slowly and steadily their way… The direction of the bead's movement was now toward them, from Voldemort, and they felt the wand shudder angrily…

As the closest bead of light moved nearer to Harry's wand tip, the wood beneath their fingers grew so hot Alicia feared it would burst into flame. She and Harry shared a nervous glance as they watched it, not sure what to do. The closer that bead moved, the harder Harry's wand vibrated; it felt as though the second the beam met the end of the wand, it would shatter under their fingers —

"Push it away!" Alicia commanded

"How?"

"Concentrate! Force it back!" Alicia said as she focused on moving the bead back to Voldemort. There was no way she was going to allow Voldemort to over power the both of them. "We're not alone. We can do it." she breathed and Harry looked at her before he focused every last particle of his mind upon forcing the bead back towards Voldemort with his sister.

Slowly, very slowly, the beads quivered to a halt, and then, just as slowly, they began to move the other way… and it was Voldemort's wand that was vibrating extra-hard now… Voldemort who looked astonished, and almost fearful…One of the beads of light was quivering, inches from the tip of Voldemort's wand.

"Push it to his wand." Harry instructed. Alicia wasn't sure why, but she focused on pushing just that, Harry beside her doing the same for it moved. And slowly… very slowly… it moved along the golden thread… it trembled for a moment… and then it connected…

At once, Voldemort's wand began to emit echoing screams of pain… then — Voldemort's red eyes widened with shock — a dense, smoky hand flew out of the tip of it and vanished… the ghost of the hand he had made Wormtail… more shouts of pain… and then something much larger began to blossom from Voldemort's wand tip, a great, greyish something, that looked as though it were made of the solidest, densest smoke… It was a head… now a chest and arms… the torso of Cedric Diggory.

Alicia stared with wide eyes at the dead boy, hovering like a ghost beside them, yet, it didn't seem like a ghost, something was off about it. It looked so solid. Cedric emerged in its entirety from the end of Voldemort's wand, as though it were squeezing itself out of a very narrow tunnel… and this shade of Cedric stood up, and looked up and down the golden thread of light, and spoke.

"Hold on, Harry," it said.

Alicia stared wide-eyed.

"Hold on, Alicia." he smiled slightly. But it made no sense…

Its voice was distant and echoing. Voldemort, his wide red eyes were still shocked, had no more expected this than Harry had… and, very dimly, Harry heard the frightened yells of the Death Eaters, prowling around the edges of the golden dome…

More screams of pain from the wand… and then something else emerged from its tip… the dense shadow of a second head, quickly followed by arms and torso… The old man Alicia and Harry had seen only in a dream was now pushing himself out of the end of the wand just as Cedric had done …and his ghost, or his shadow, or whatever it was, fell next to Cedric's, and surveyed Harry and Voldemort, and the golden web, and the connected wands, with mild surprise, leaning on his walking stick…

"He was a real wizard, then?" the old man said, his eyes on Voldemort. "Killed me, that one did… You fight him, boy…" Alicia wasn't sure what to make of this, but the encouragement from Voldemort's victims seemed to push her determination as though to avenge them some how.

Already, yet another head was emerging… and this head, grey as a smoky statue, was a woman's… Harry, both arms shaking now as he fought to keep his wand still, saw her drop to the ground and straighten up like the others, staring.…

The shadow of Bertha Jorkins surveyed the battle before her with wide eyes.

"Don't let go, now!" she cried, and her voice echoed like Cedric's as though from very far away. "Don't let him get you, Harry, Alicia — don't let go!"

She and the other two shadowy figures began to pace around the inner walls of the golden web, while the Death Eaters flitted around the outside of it… and Voldemort's dead victims whispered as they circled the duellers, whispered words of encouragement to Alicia and Harry, and hissed words neither could hear to Voldemort.

And now another head was emerging from the tip of Voldemort's wand. Alicia's eyes widened in shock as she knew exactly who it was, the order of Voldemort's victims… But it was the flowing hair and eyes that made it positive.

The smoky shadow of a young woman with long hair fell to the ground as Bertha had done, straightened up, and looked at them. Alicia felt her eyes well up with tears at seeing her and Harry, his arms shaking madly now, looked back into the ghostly face of their mother.

"Mum?" Alicia whispered

"Your father's coming…" she said quietly. "Hold on for your father… it will be all right… hold on…"

And he came… first his head, then his body… tall and untidy-haired like Harry, the smoky, shadowy form of James Potter blossomed from the end of Voldemort's wand, fell to the ground, and straightened like his wife. He walked close to Alicia and Harry, looking down at them, and he spoke in the same distant, echoing voice as the others, but quietly, so that Voldemort, his face now livid with fear as his victims prowled around him, could not hear…

"When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments… but we will give you time… you must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts… do you understand, Harry? Alicia?"

Alicia nodded immediately, she could feel the tears pouring down her face but did not will them to do so, did not feel the prickling that came with sadness from them. They just ran.

"Yes," Harry gasped, fighting now with Alicia to keep a hold on his wand, which was slipping and sliding beneath their fingers.

"Harry…" whispered the figure of Cedric, "take my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents, Alicia…"

"I will," said Harry, his face screwed up with the effort of holding the wand.

"We will." Alicia nodded and turned to Harry. "We grab Cedric's body and use the summoning charm." she said and Harry nodded fiercely.

"Do it now," whispered their father's voice, "be ready to run… do it now…"

"Ready?" Alicia asked and Harry nodded before looking at Voldemort.

"NOW!" Harry yelled; Both Alicia and Harry pulled Harry's wand upward with an almighty wrench, and the golden thread broke; the cage of light vanished, the phoenix song died — but the shadowy figures of Voldemort's victims did not disappear — they were closing in upon Voldemort, shielding Harry and Alicia from his gaze —

Alicia had her wand back in her hand and she stunned the two Death Eaters in their way as she and Harry ran for their life towards Cedric, lying still on the ground. They zig-zagged behind head stones as Curses followed them. Alicia flung her wand over her shoulder and threw some back, not sure if she actually made impact with any of them.

" _Stun him_!" he heard Voldemort scream.

Ten feet from Cedric, Harry dived behind a marble angel to avoid the jets of red light and pulled Alicia with him, the tip of its wing shattering as the spells hit it. Gripping his wand more tightly, he dashed out from behind the angel —

" _Impedimenta_!" he bellowed, pointing his wand wildly over his shoulder at the Death Eaters running at him.

Alicia copied suit and sent another Reductor curse at them, blowing up the ground in front of them all to block their view.

Harry jumped over the cup as Alicia skidded to the ground. Harry closed his hand over Cedric's wrist, one tombstone between them and Voldemort and Alicia turned her wand to the cup, just too far from their reach as Voldemort's eyes flamed in the darkness, his mouth curling into a smile as he raised his wand.

" _Accio!_ " Alicia shouted ignoring the monster about to kill them and she held to Harry tight as the cup zoomed straight into her hand.

They heard Voldemort's scream of fury at the same moment that they felt the jerk behind their navels that meant, to Alicia's huge relief, the Portkey had worked — it was speeding them away in a whirl of wind and colour, and Cedric along with them… They were going back.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34:

Alicia was slammed into the ground, Harry's hand still tight in hers as she felt the tears pouring like waterfalls down her cheeks. She lay with her eyes closed sobbing as she felt the cool grass below her. Her fear had caught up to her, the adrenaline was gone and all she felt was cold and fear, despite now being out of danger. Even if they were in the maze, it was not nearly as dangerous or life threatening as the graveyard.

Alicia didn't bother moving, she could hear sounds come to her ears as she cried, making sure she concentrated on Harry's hand in hers, her only comfort currently. She knew it had worked and she knew someone would come to them, they didn't need to move. Voices, footsteps and screams sounded all around them, but neither Alicia or Harry moved.

"Harry! _Harry_!" Alicia recognised Albus Dumbledore's voice as Harry was moved from her grip. She sat up and opened her eyes reaching for him in fright, as though it was the only thing that made sense, that could protect her.

She saw Dumbledore had turned Harry over who had been lying face down in the grass, and she leaned forwards to cry into his shoulder, not wanting to see everyone around them.

"Alicia! What were you doing in the maze?!" Dumbledore asked

"I never entered the maze!" Alicia gasped and sobbed as she shook her headed on Harry's shoulder.

"I just want… don't make…" she couldn't get a sentence out and she clung to Harry's back as Harry held to Cedric. He grabbed Dumbledore's wrist.

"He's back," Harry whispered. "He's back. Voldemort."

"What's going on? What's happened?"

The face of Cornelius Fudge appeared; it looked white, appalled.

"My God — Diggory!" it whispered. "Dumbledore — he's dead!" The words were repeated, the shadowy figures pressing in on them, gasped it to those around them… and then others shouted it — screeched it — into the night —

"He's dead!"

"He's _dead_!"

"Cedric Diggory! _Dead_!"

Alicia didn't want to hear the words.

"Harry, let go of him," he heard Fudge's voice say, she guessed he hadn't because Dumbledore then spoke.

"Harry, you can't help him now. It's over. Let go."

"He wanted me to bring him back," Harry muttered — it seemed important to explain this. "He wanted me to bring him back to his parents…"

"He didn't want to be left behind." Alicia sobbed and she moved her head from Harry's back and loosened her grip only slightly as she looked at Dumbledore.

"He's back Professor… he… he…" but her tears began to spill over again

"That's right, Harry… It's alright Alicia, just let go now…"

Dumbledore bent down, and extended a hand to Alicia, she looked at it and then at his face to which he gave her a reassuring look. She took it and then she was helped to her feet, she staggered slightly before, with extraordinary strength for a man so old and thin, he raised Harry from the ground and set him on his feet beside her. Harry swayed and Alicia wrapped her arm around Harry's waist, putting her head on his shoulder to support him and comfort herself. Harry placed an arm around her shoulders.

The crowd around them jostled, fighting to get closer, pressing darkly in on them — "What's happened?" "What's wrong with him?" " _Diggory's dead_!"

"He'll need to go to the hospital wing!" Fudge was saying loudly. "He's ill, he's injured — Dumbledore, Diggory's parents, they're here, they're in the stands…"

"I'll take Harry, Dumbledore, I'll take him —"

"No, I would prefer —"

"Dumbledore, Amos Diggory's running… he's coming over… Don't you think you should tell him — before he sees — ?"

"Harry, stay here —"

Girls were screaming, sobbing hysterically… The scene flickered oddly around Alicia as she turned numb from all the noise around her. It was unfocused, it was chaos and all she was aware of was the tears still slipping down her face.

She didn't understand, why did this turn so bad? How could something so bad have occurred? She put her head in her hands as the scenes flicked through her head, Wormtail screaming, the pain from the curses, her scar burning, the throbbing in her neck a current reminder. Voldemort emerging from the cauldron. The bright light beam. Her parents.

"Alicia!" Alicia looked up and saw Dumbledore before her as he put his hands on her shoulders.

"Where's Harry?" Alicia looked around to find he'd gone. How could he have left! How could he have left her?

And then Alicia remembered.

"Professor!" she breathed and grabbed his arms "Moody! Mad-Eye Moody!" she breathed "He's not Moody!" Dumbledore looked at her "He — he gave me a piece of p-parchment that was a portkey and took — took me to a graveyard!" she was hysterical. Harry had come back alive and there was still Crouch within the school, who else would take him away in such a peril time! "Professor, Mad — Mad-Eye Moody is Crouch — Crouch's Son! He's Crouch Junior! He's been taking p-polyjuice potion! Stealing from — from Snape!" she looked around and more tears fell. "He put H-Harry's name in the cup! He — he helped Harry through the trials! He — he — he bewitched the cup into the portray! He killed — killed his father!" she explained and she turned around. "Crouch somehow got his son out of Azkaban!"

"Alicia come with me." Dumbledore took her wrist "Professor McGonagall! Professor Snape!" he bellowed and he began to drag Alicia away.

"Alicia are you sure?" Dumbledore asked as the two other teachers hurried behind them, McGonagall white faced.

"Crouch m-muttered about his s-son and how it was h-his fault! I saw him in my d-dream, he was alive, I l-learned tonight Bertha Jenkins was indeed killed, a-as well as that muggle, Frank. Crouch attacked M-Moody within his home… the false alarm with some d-dustbins wasn't false! He's been taking the polyjuice p-potion! He was stealing from Snape's office! He's the o-only knew t-teacher close to Harry and V-Voldemort said his most faithful servant was at Hogwarts." Alicia stuttered through her tears as they ran through the castle. "M-Moody's been g-giving me a bad feeling all y-year. I didn't t-trust him and I wasn't s-sure why!"

"I figured o-out Moody was an i-imposter just b-before he — he handed me the portkey." she breathed as they panted, climbing the stairs and headed for Moody's office. "I knew Crouch was the one to blame from your pensieve."

"Mrs Evans, what happened tonight?" McGonagall asked her

"V-Voldemort's back! He took blood from H-Harry and Wormtail's hand and d-dirt from his father's grave and c-combined them in a c-cauldron. He came back! He's human again!" Alicia said hurriedly, trying to get as much info out of herself despite the terrible images that came with them. "Moody g-gave me a parchment that t-transported me to a graveyard n-near Voldemort's father's h-house and I found H-Harry and Cedric and then he… Wormtail he…" she closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to get rid of the images, hoping they'd fade away and it would have all been a bad nightmare, that it was the night before the third task, where everything had been going okay.

They reached the door of Moody's office and Alicia could hear Harry's voice from the other side of the door.

"You're mad," Harry said "you're mad!"

"Mad, am I?" said Moody, his voice rising uncontrollably. "We'll see! We'll see who's mad, now that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side! He is back, Harry Potter, you did not conquer him — and now — I conquer you!"

Dumbledore had his wand drawn and he pointed it to the door as his face was covered in enragement fury. Alicia had never seen him so angry, the twinkle in his eye was gone and the benign smile was wiped clear. There was cold fury in every line of his face. Power radiated from the old headmaster as though he was giving off burning heat.

" _Stupefy_!" he shouted. There was a blinding flash of red light, and with a great splintering and crashing, the door of Moody's office was blasted apart —

Alicia saw inside as Crouch was thrown off his feet and onto the office door. Harry sat with his back to them before he turned around.

"Harry!" she had been so wrapped in her thoughts she'd never noticed Moody drag him away from her and she was terrified by that, the thought they'd just escaped Lord Voldemort and she couldn't even hold on to him long enough to keep him out of danger for a few minutes.

Alicia ran in, jumping over the unconscious Moody and pulled Harry into a hug, letting out a sigh of relief.

Dumbledore stepped into the office, placed a foot underneath Moody's unconscious body, and kicked him over onto his back, so that his face was visible. Snape followed him, looking into the Foe-Glass, where his own face was still visible, glaring into the room. Professor McGonagall went straight to Harry.

"Come along, Potter," she whispered. The thin line of her mouth was twitching as though she was about to cry. "Come along… hospital wing… Miss Evans you as well…"

"No," said Dumbledore sharply.

"Dumbledore, he ought to — look at him — he's been through enough tonight —"

"He will stay, Minerva. They both will, because they need to understand," said Dumbledore curtly. "Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. He needs to know who has put him through the ordeal he has suffered tonight, and why."

"Moody," Harry said. He was still in a state of complete disbelief. "How can it have been Moody?"

"He's not Moody." Alicia said "He's Crouch's son." Harry looked at her shocked, then confused

"This is not Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore quietly. "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, the moment Alicia explained her theory, I knew — and I followed."

Dumbledore bent down over Moody's limp form and put a hand inside his robes. He pulled out Moody's hip flask and a set of keys on a ring. Then he turned to Professors McGonagall and Snape.

"Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here."

If either Snape or McGonagall found these instructions peculiar, they hid their confusion. Both turned at once and left the office. Dumbledore walked over to the trunk with seven locks, fitted the first key in the lock, and opened it. It contained a mass of spellbooks. Dumbledore closed the trunk, placed a second key in the second lock, and opened the trunk again. The spellbooks had vanished; this time it contained an assortment of broken Sneakoscopes, some parchment and quills, and what looked like a silvery Invisibility Cloak. Harry and Alicia watched, astounded, as Dumbledore placed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys in their respective locks, reopening the trunk, and each time revealing different contents. Then he placed the seventh key in the lock, threw open the lid, and Harry let out a cry of amazement while Alicia's eyes widened.

They were looking down into a kind of pit, an underground room, and lying on the floor some ten feet below, apparently fast asleep, thin and starved in appearance, was the real Mad-Eye Moody. His wooden leg was gone, the socket that should have held the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing.

Dumbledore climbed into the trunk, lowered himself, and fell lightly onto the floor beside the sleeping Moody. He bent over him.

"Stunned — controlled by the Imperius Curse — very weak," he said. "Of course, they would have needed to keep him alive. Harry, throw down the imposter's cloak — he's freezing. Madam Pomfrey will need to see him, but he seems in no immediate danger."

Harry did as he was told; Dumbledore covered Moody in the cloak, tucked it around him, and clambered out of the trunk again. Then he picked up the hip flask that stood upon the desk, unscrewed it, and turned it over. A thick glutinous liquid splattered onto the office floor.

"You were right Alicia, Polyjuice Potion, Harry," said Dumbledore. "You see the simplicity of it, and the brilliance. For Moody never _does_ drink except from his hip flask, he's well known for it. The imposter needed, of course, to keep the real Moody close by, so that he could continue making the potion. You see his hair…" Dumbledore looked down on the Moody in the trunk. "The imposter has been cutting it off all year, see where it is uneven? But I think, in the excitement of tonight, our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as frequently as he should have done… on the hour… every hour… We shall see."

Dumbledore pulled out the chair at the desk and sat down upon it, his eyes fixed upon the unconscious Moody on the floor. Harry and Alicia stared at him too. Minutes passed in silence…

Then, before their eyes, the face of the man on the floor began to change. The scars were disappearing, the skin was becoming smooth; the mangled nose became whole and started to shrink. The long mane of grizzled grey hair was withdrawing into the scalp and turning the colour of straw. Suddenly, with a loud _clunk_ , the wooden leg fell away as a normal leg regrew in its place; next moment, the magical eyeball had popped out of the man's face as a real eye replaced it; it rolled away across the floor and continued to swivel in every direction.

The man lying before them, pale-skinned, slightly freckled, with a mop of fair hair. Alicia had been spot on again, the man in Dumbledore's Pensieve, being led away from court by the dementors, trying to convince Mr. Crouch that he was innocent… but he was lined around the eyes now and looked much older…

There were hurried footsteps outside in the corridor. Snape had returned with Winky at his heels. Professor McGonagall was right behind them.

"Crouch!" Snape said, stopping dead in the doorway. "Barty Crouch!"

"Good heavens," said Professor McGonagall, stopping dead and staring down at the man on the floor.

Filthy, disheveled, Winky peered around Snape's legs. Her mouth opened wide and she let out a piercing shriek.

"Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?"

She flung herself forward onto the young man's chest.

"You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed Master's son!"

"He is simply Stunned, Winky," said Dumbledore. "Step aside, please. Severus, you have the potion?"

Snape handed Dumbledore a small glass bottle of completely clear liquid: Veritaserum. A very powerful truth potion. Dumbledore got up, bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall beneath the Foe-Glass, in which the reflections of Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall were still glaring down upon them all. Winky remained on her knees, trembling, her hands over her face. Dumbledore forced the man's mouth open and poured three drops inside it. Then he pointed his wand at the man's chest and said, " _Rennervate._ "

Crouch's son opened his eyes. His face was slack, his gaze unfocused. Dumbledore knelt before him, so that their faces were level.

"Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked quietly. The man's eyelids flickered.

"Yes," he muttered.

"I would like you to tell us," said Dumbledore softly, "how you came to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?"

"They buried a substitute with polyjuice potion." Alicia muttered, everyone glanced at her as she watched Crouch, waiting for a confirmation.

Crouch took a deep, shuddering breath, then began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice.

"My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favour to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."

Winky was shaking her head, trembling.

"Say no more, Master Barty, say no more, you is getting your father into trouble!"

But Crouch took another deep breath and continued in the same flat voice.

"The dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. They sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors.

"My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me."

The man's eyelids flickered.

"And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?" said Dumbledore quietly.

"Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master… of returning to his service."

"How did your father subdue you?" said Dumbledore.

"The Imperius Curse," Crouch said. "I was under my father's control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behaviour."

"Master Barty, Master Barty," sobbed Winky through her hands. "You isn't ought to tell them, we is getting in trouble…"

"Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?" said Dumbledore softly. "Did anyone know except your father and the house-elf ?"

"Yes," said Crouch, his eyelids flickering again. "A witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins. She came to the house with papers for my father's signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived home. She confronted him. He put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently."

"Why is she coming to nose into my master's private business?" sobbed Winky. "Why isn't she leaving us be?"

"Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup," said Dumbledore.

"Winky talked my father into it," said Crouch, still in the same monotonous voice. "She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She told my father that my mother had died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end.

"It was carefully planned. My father led me and Winky up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say that she was saving a seat for my father. I was to sit there, invisible. When everyone had left the box, we would emerge. Winky would appear to be alone. Nobody would ever know.

"But Winky didn't know that I was growing stronger. I was starting to fight my father's Imperius Curse. There were times when I was almost myself again. There were brief periods when I seemed outside his control. It happened, there, in the Top Box. It was like waking from a deep sleep. I found myself out in public, in the middle of the match, and I saw, in front of me, a wand sticking out of a boy's pocket. I had not been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it. Winky didn't know. Winky is frightened of heights. She had her face hidden."

"Master Barty, you bad boy!" whispered Winky, tears trickling between her fingers.

"So you took the wand," said Dumbledore, "and what did you do with it?"

"We went back to the tent," said Crouch. "Then we heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban. The ones who had never suffered for my master. They had turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free to seek him, but they did not. They were merely making sport of Muggles. The sound of their voices awoke me. My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I was angry. I had the wand. I wanted to attack them for their disloyalty to my master. My father had left the tent; he had gone to free the Muggles. Winky was afraid to see me so angry. She used her own brand of magic to bind me to her. She pulled me from the tent, pulled me into the forest, away from the Death Eaters. I tried to hold her back. I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant, and to punish them for their lack of it. I used the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky."

Alicia suddenly remembered Winky running through the forest, as though something was holding her back, pulling her in the other direction. Crouch had been near them even then!

"Ministry wizards arrived. They shot Stunning Spells everywhere. One of the spells came through the trees where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us was broken. We were both Stunned.

"When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had been found and felt me lying there. He waited until the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put me back under the Imperius Curse and took me home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let me acquire a wand. She had almost let me escape."

Winky let out a wail of despair.

"Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then… and then…" Crouch's head rolled on his neck, and an insane grin spread across his face. "My master came for me.

"He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of his servant Wormtail. My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant — perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based upon the information Bertha had given him. He needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door."

The smile spread wider over Crouch's face, as though recalling the sweetest memory of his life. Winky's petrified brown eyes were visible through her fingers. She seemed too appalled to speak.

Alicia's eyes widened, she'd seen that! She'd had that dream… but how?

"It was very quick. My father was placed under the Imperius Curse by my master. Now my father was the one imprisoned, controlled. My master forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn't been in years.

"And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" said Dumbledore.

"He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Harry Potter through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Harry Potter. Ensure he reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first —"

"You needed Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore. His blue eyes were blazing, though his voice remained calm.

"Wormtail and I did it. We had prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion. We managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him into a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I became Moody's double. I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, who had set off the dustbins. Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive, under the Imperius Curse. I wanted to be able to question him. To find out about his past, learn his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients were easy. I stole boomslang skin from the dungeons. When the Potions master found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it."

"And what became of Wormtail after you attacked Moody?" said Dumbledore.

"Wormtail returned to care for my master, in my father's house, and to keep watch over my father."

"But your father escaped," said Dumbledore.

"Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban.

"My master sent me word of my father's escape. He told me to stop him at all costs. So I waited and watched. I used the map I had taken from Harry Potter. The map that had almost ruined everything."

"Map?" said Dumbledore quickly. "What map is this?" Alicia and Harry shared a look and Alicia placed a hand on her pocket were the map sat.

"Potter's map of Hogwarts. Potter saw me on it. Potter saw me stealing more ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion from Snape's office one night. He thought I was my father. We have the same first name. I took the map from Potter that night. I told him my father hated Dark wizards. Potter believed my father was after Snape.

"For a week I waited for my father to arrive at Hogwarts. At last, one evening, the map showed my father entering the grounds. I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the forest. Then Potter came, and Krum. I waited. I could not hurt Potter; my master needed him. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I Stunned Krum. I killed my father."

" _Noooo_!" wailed Winky. "Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you saying?"

"You killed your father," Dumbledore said, in the same soft voice. "What did you do with the body?"

"Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. I had the map with me. I watched Potter run into the castle. He met Snape. Dumbledore joined them. I watched Potter bringing Dumbledore out of the castle. I walked back out of the forest, doubled around behind them, went to meet them. I told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come."

Alicia knew it. She knew Snape had never said anything.

"Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went back to my father's body. Watched the map. When everyone was gone, I Transfigured my father's body. He became a bone… I buried it, while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin."

There was complete silence now, except for Winky's continued sobs. Then Dumbledore said, "And tonight…"

"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," whispered Barty Crouch. "Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honoured by him beyond the dreams of wizards."

The insane smile lit his features once more, and his head drooped onto his shoulder as Winky wailed and sobbed at his side.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35:

Dumbledore stood up. He stared down at Barty Crouch for a moment with disgust on his face. Then he raised his wand once more and ropes flew out of it, ropes that twisted themselves around Barty Crouch, binding him tightly. He turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I take Alicia and Harry upstairs?"

"Of course," said Professor McGonagall. She looked slightly nauseous, as though she had just watched someone being sick. However, when she drew out her wand and pointed it at Barty Crouch, her hand was quite steady.

"Severus" — Dumbledore turned to Snape — "please tell Madam Pomfrey to come down here; we need to get Alastor Moody into the hospital wing. Then go down into the grounds, find Cornelius Fudge, and bring him up to this office. He will undoubtedly want to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the hospital wing in half an hour's time if he needs me."

Snape nodded silently and swept out of the room.

"Harry?" Dumbledore said gently. "Alicia." she looked up at him, the tears had stained her face and Her mouth was in an emotionless line. But her eyes shined slightly with anger, not only at Crouch for all the trouble he caused, but at herself for not realising everything sooner, as usual.

Harry got up and swayed again; the pain in his leg apparently now returned in full measure. Alicia quickly wrapped her arms around him to steady him and he placed his arm around her shoulders. He was shaking. Alicia rubbed his shoulder comfortingly, though her heart was pounding still within her chest and her hands shook slightly as well, she tried to comfort him.

Dumbledore lead them from the office into the dark passage way towards his office.

"I want you to come up to my office first, Harry, Alicia," Dumbledore said quietly as they headed up the passageway. "Sirius is waiting for us there."

Harry only nodded and Alicia let that be the answer for her as well.

"Professor," Harry mumbled, "where are Mr. and Mrs. Diggory?" He asked suddenly

"They are with Professor Sprout," said Dumbledore. His voice, which had been so calm throughout the interrogation of Barty Crouch, shook very slightly for the first time. "She was Head of Cedric's house, and knew him best."

They had reached the stone gargoyle. Dumbledore gave the password, it sprang aside, and he, Alicia and Harry went up the moving spiral staircase to the oak door. Dumbledore pushed it open. Sirius was standing there. His face was white and gaunt as it had been when he had escaped Azkaban.

Alicia looked at him and her eyes filled with tears again. In one swift moment, Sirius had crossed the room.

"Harry, Alicia, are you all right? I knew it — I knew something like this — what happened?"

His hands shook as he helped Harry into a chair in front of the desk, Alicia stayed as she watched her godfather.

"Sirius," she muttered and he turned to her before walking over to her and pulling her into a hug. She cried as she had done so at the edge of the maze on Harry.

"What happened?" Sirius asked more urgently as he smoothed Alicia's hair for comfort.

Dumbledore began to tell Sirius everything Barty Crouch had said. Alicia heard snippets through her sobs but she didn't really want to listen, it made all her theories and facts come back to the forefront of her mind and remind her she should have said something and stopped it.

Dumbledore stopped talking.

"So Alicia was right, it was Crouch." Sirius asked and Dumbledore nodded.

"She has quite the gift for discovering the truth with such little evidence." Dumbledore muttered as he sat down opposite Harry, behind his desk. Sirius rubbed Alicia's back before he guided her over to the desk as well. She wasn't placed in a chair, he turned her so she could see Dumbledore and Harry before her, and kept an arm around her securely. Alicia noticed Fawkes was sitting on Harry's knee, his bad leg. She hoped the bird would heal it for him, Harry didn't need anything else to worry about.

Dumbledore was looking at Harry, who avoided his eyes. Dumbledore was going to question him. He was going to make Harry relive everything. Alicia didn't know how she felt about this, she took a couple gulps of air to try and calm her shaking body and erratic heart, to try and calm herself down in an effort to stop the tears.

"I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze, Harry," said Dumbledore.

"We can leave that till morning, can't we, Dumbledore?" said Sirius harshly. He had put his other hand on Harry's shoulder. "Let him have a sleep. Let him rest."

Alicia felt grateful towards Sirius but she knew that wasn't an option. She knew this was information that needed to be told while they had the minister here, while it was fresh… no matter how much that was like pouring salt on a wound.

Very unwillingly, Harry raised his head and looked into those blue eyes.

"If I thought I could help you," Dumbledore said gently, "by putting you into an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you. I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what happened."

The phoenix let out one soft, quavering note.

Alicia looked up at Sirius who didn't look happy about this but said nothing.

When Harry didn't spoke, Alicia did. She started again with how Crouch had given her a piece of parchment, keeping the fact it was indeed the Marauder's map a secret, how it hadn't taken her back when she touched it again, and how she'd seen Wormtail staring at Harry and Cedric not far off before Wormtail killed Cedric at the command of Voldemort, who at that stage only Alicia was sure of what was in the robes.

And then Harry spoke, he talked about being tied to the headstone and watching Wormtail conduct the potion, slicing his own arm. Alicia fell silent and waited until Harry needed that slight break again.

Once or twice, Sirius made a noise as though about to say something, his hand still tight on Harry's shoulder, but Dumbledore raised his hand to stop him, Alicia believed this better, talking without interruption.

When Harry told of Wormtail piercing his arm with the dagger, however, Sirius let out a vehement exclamation and Dumbledore stood up so quickly that Harry stopped for a minute. Dumbledore walked around the desk and told Harry to stretch out his arm. Harry showed them both the place where his robes were torn and the cut beneath them.

"He said my blood would make him stronger than if he'd used someone else's," Harry told Dumbledore. "He said the protection my — my mother left in me — he'd have it too. And he was right — he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face."

For a fleeting instant, Alicia swore she saw a gleam of something like triumph in Dumbledore's eyes and she stared at him with confusion as it vanished as Dumbledore returned to his seat.

"Very well," he said, sitting down again. "Voldemort has overcome that particular barrier. Harry, continue, please."

Harry went on; he explained how Voldemort had emerged from the cauldron, and told them all he could remember of Voldemort's speech to the Death Eaters. Alicia placed her hand on Harry's shoulder and gave a play of the speech, it still being vivid in her mind as she told them off all Voldemort's plans that were to follow. Then she told how Voldemort had untied Harry, returned his wand to him, and prepared to duel.

She then explained how she had confunded the Death Eater holding her and moved through the graves, throwing any spell at the Death Eaters that came to her mind before she and Harry met behind a tombstone.

Harry explained how Voldemort had tortured him and Alicia said it was like a cat playing with a mouse before eating it.

And then when Harry reached the point about the golden beam of light, his throat seemed to close over, no more words came out so Alicia explained how she and Harry had taken the wand and forced all they could towards Voldemort. She didn't explain about the figures that came from the wand, it was something she wasn't sure she'd be able to talk about, the fact that their parents had helped them and Cedric had spoken to them, asking to return him.

"The wands connected?" Sirius said, looking from Harry and Alicia to Dumbledore. "Why?"

Harry looked up at Dumbledore again, on whose face there was an arrested look.

"Because they're brothers." Alicia mumbled and Dumbledore looked at her with that impressed twinkle.

" _Priori Incantatem_ ," he muttered. Alicia looked at them both, an echo of the last spells casted…

"The Reverse Spell effect?" said Sirius sharply.

"Exactly," said Dumbledore. "Harry's wand and Voldemort's wand share cores. Each of them contains a feather from the tail of the same phoenix. _This_ phoenix, in fact," he added, and he pointed at the scarlet-and-gold bird, perching peacefully on Harry's knee.

"Fawkes?" Alicia muttered surprised

"My wand's feather came from Fawkes?" Harry said, amazed.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "Mr. Ollivander wrote to tell me you had bought the second wand, the moment you left his shop four years ago."

"So what happens when a wand meets its brother?" said Sirius.

"They will not work properly against each other," said Dumbledore. "If, however, the owners of the wands force the wands to do battle… a very rare effect will take place. One of the wands will force the other to regurgitate spells it has performed — in reverse. The most recent first… and then those which preceded it…"

He looked interrogatively at Harry and Alicia, who both nodded.

"Which means," said Dumbledore slowly, his eyes upon Harry's face, "that some form of Cedric must have reappeared."

Both nodded again.

"Diggory came back to life?" said Sirius sharply.

"No spell can reawaken the dead," said Dumbledore heavily. "All that would have happened is a kind of reverse echo. A shadow of the living Cedric would have emerged from the wand… am I correct, Harry?"

"He spoke to me," Harry said. He was suddenly shaking again. "The… the ghost Cedric, or whatever he was, spoke."

"Asked us to bring him back." Alicia whispered

"An echo," said Dumbledore, "which retained Cedric's appearance and character. I am guessing other such forms appeared… less recent victims of Voldemort's wand…"

"An old man," Harry said, his throat still constricted.

"Frank, the caretaker." Alicia named

"Bertha Jorkins. And…"

"Your parents?" said Dumbledore quietly.

"Yes," said Harry.

Sirius' grip on Alicia tightened and so did his hand on Harry's shoulder. Alicia rubbed Sirius' arm in comfort.

"The last murders the wand performed," said Dumbledore, nodding. "In reverse order. More would have appeared, of course, had you maintained the connection. Very well, Harry, these echoes, these shadows… what did they do?"

Harry described how the figures that had emerged from the wand had prowled the edges of the golden web, how Voldemort had seemed to fear them, how the shadow of Harry's father had told him what to do, how Cedric's had made its final request.

At this point, Harry found he could not continue. He looked around at Sirius and saw that he had his face in his hands, having released Alicia and left her standing there, suddenly feeling cold as she wrapped her arms around herself. The sudden feeling of loneliness filled her, as though Harry, Sirius and Dumbledore weren't really there. She felt in a bubble, the outside world cut off from her.

Fawkes was the only one to move, the phoenix had fluttered to the floor. It was resting its beautiful head against Harry's injured leg, and thick, pearly tears were falling from its eyes onto the wound left by the spider. The pain vanished. The skin mended. His leg was repaired.

"I will say it again," said Dumbledore as the phoenix rose into the air and resettled itself upon the perch beside the door. "You both have have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you tonight, Harry, Alicia. You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it — and you have now given us all that we have a right to expect. You will come with me to the hospital wing, both of you. I do not want you returning to the dormitory tonight. A Sleeping Potion, and some peace… Sirius, would you like to stay with them?"

Sirius nodded and he transformed back into the great black dog and walked with Harry, Alicia and Dumbledore out of the office, accompanying them down a flight of stairs to the hospital wing.

When Dumbledore pushed open the door, they saw Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione grouped around a harassed-looking Madam Pomfrey. They appeared to be demanding to know where Harry and Alicia were and what had happened to them. All of them whipped around as Harry, Alicia, Dumbledore, and the black dog entered, and Mrs. Weasley let out a kind of muffled scream.

"Harry! Oh Alicia!"

She started to hurry toward him, but Dumbledore moved between them.

"Molly," he said, holding up a hand, "please listen to me for a moment. Both Alicia and Harry have been through a terrible ordeal tonight. They have just had to relive it for me. What both need now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If either would like you all to stay with him," he added, looking around at Ron, Hermione, and Bill too, "you may do so. But I do not want you questioning them until either is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."

Mrs. Weasley nodded. She was very white. She rounded on Ron, Hermione, and Bill as though they were being noisy, and hissed, "Did you hear? He needs quiet!"

"Headmaster," said Madam Pomfrey, staring at the great black dog that was Sirius, "may I ask what — ?"

"This dog will be remaining with Harry and Alicia for a while," said Dumbledore simply. "I assure you, he is extremely well trained. Harry, Alicia — I will wait while you get into bed."

Alicia was more then happy to not need to explain any of that again, not now, and maybe not for a few days. She wished it will all go away but knew it was wishful thinking.

"Alicia," she turned to Dumbledore. "I need to ask one more thing of you." he asked her to move over towards the door and she did so, wondering what this was about.

"With Voldemort back, I believe you may be in more danger as a secret." he said and Alicia looked at him slightly surprised

"You want to tell everyone about me?" she whispered

"If necessary I believe it may be more beneficial for you. Voldemort already knows and so do his followers," Dumbledore explained. "The more people who know, the more protection you will have." Alicia took a deep breath and nodded.

"It's alright, I haven't been sure why it's been a secret lately anyway." she confessed. Dumbledore patted her shoulder before allowing her to walk back over to Harry and the others.

"I will be back to see you as soon as I have met with Fudge, Alicia, Harry," said Dumbledore. "I would like you both to remain here tomorrow until I have spoken to the school." He left.

As Madam Pomfrey led Harry to a nearby bed and Alicia to the one next to it, they saw the real Moody lying motionless in a bed at the far end of the room. His wooden leg and magical eye were lying on the bedside table.

"Is he okay?" Harry asked.

"He'll be fine," said Madam Pomfrey, giving the twins some pyjamas and pulling screens around Harry and then around Alicia when he was done. Both climbed into bed and Ron, Hermione, Bill, Mrs. Weasley, and the black dog came and settled themselves in chairs around them. Ron and Hermione were looking at him almost cautiously, as though scared of him.

"I'm all right," he told them. "Just tired."

"Just as long as there are no dreams." Alicia breathed as Mrs. Weasley's eyes filled with tears as she smoothed his bedcovers unnecessarily.

Madam Pomfrey, who had bustled off to her office, returned holding two small bottles of some purple potion and a goblet.

"You'll need to drink all of this, Harry, Alicia," she said. "It's a potion for dreamless sleep."

Alicia happily took the drink and drank some, but not all. Immediately she felt herself becoming drowsy and she laid down on her bed, curling herself up as though hoping it would protect her as the sounds around her became hazy and she sank into the warm feather mattress. She dozed off into the blackness of her own mind happily and was more than grateful when no images came to her mind as she was carried off to sleep.

* * *

She awoke much to soon for her liking, the bed was warm, cuddly, she wanted to go back to sleep, so she laid there waiting for sleep to take her again. Unfortunately her ears began to work and she heard whispers around her. Above that however she heard shouting, she wasn't sure what had happened but it sounded as though someone was on a rampage.

"What are they shouting about? Nothing else can have happened, can it?"

Alicia didn't know what had happened, but she doubted that statement very much, things always got worse before getting better, they'd escaped the maze yet still had to deal with Crouch after all.  
"That's Fudge's voice," It was Mrs Weasley that was whispering. "And that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it? But what are they arguing about?"

Footsteps accompanied the shouting now and Alicia scrunched up her face annoyed. Couldn't they just let her sleep? Let her aching body heal?

"Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva —" Cornelius Fudge was saying loudly.

"You should never have brought it inside the castle!" yelled Professor McGonagall. "When Dumbledore finds out —"

The hospital wing doors bursted open and Alicia opened her eyes in annoyance. She was facing the doors and saw as Fudge came striding up the ward. Professors McGonagall and Snape were at his heels.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded of Mrs. Weasley.

"He's not here," said Mrs. Weasley angrily. "This is a hospital wing, Minister, don't you think you'd do better to —"

But the door opened, and Dumbledore came sweeping up the ward.

"What has happened?" said Dumbledore sharply, looking from Fudge to Professor McGonagall. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you — I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch —"

"There is no need to stand guard over him anymore, Dumbledore!" she shrieked. "The Minister has seen to that!"

Alicia had seen McGonagall's wrath before, at least she thought she had, she'd never seen the professor loose such control like this before. There were angry blotches of colour in her cheeks, and her hands were balled into fists; she was trembling with fury.

"When we told Mr. Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events," said Snape, in a low voice, "he seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch —"

"I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" Professor McGonagall fumed. "I told him you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but —"

"My dear woman!" roared Fudge, who likewise looked angrier than Alicia had ever seen him, "as Minister of Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous —"

Alicia's opinion currently was that Fudge was a coward.

But Professor McGonagall's voice drowned Fudge's.

"The moment that — that thing entered the room," she screamed, pointing at Fudge, trembling all over, "it swooped down on Crouch and — and —"

Alicia closed her eyes. She didn't need McGonagall to finish, she knew what the dementors did, they had almost done it to Sirius had it not have been for Harry, her and Hermione. The dementor had administered its fatal kiss to Barty Crouch. It had sucked his soul out through his mouth. He was worse than dead.

"By all accounts, he is no loss!" blustered Fudge. "It seems he has been responsible for several deaths!"

"But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius," said Dumbledore. He was staring hard at Fudge, as though seeing him plainly for the first time. "He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people."

"Why he killed them? Well, that's no mystery, is it?" blustered Fudge. "He was a raving lunatic! From what Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"

"Lord Voldemort _was_ giving him instructions, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "Those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort has been restored to his body."

Fudge looked as though someone had just swung a heavy weight into his face, Alicia wished that was the case. Dazed and blinking, he stared back at Dumbledore as if he couldn't quite believe what he had just heard. He began to sputter, still goggling at Dumbledore.

"You-Know-Who… returned? Preposterous. Come now, Dumbledore…" Alicia couldn't believe her ears, why would someone lie about this?! She pushed herself into a sitting position and saw Harry beside her was awake also.

"As Minerva and Severus have doubtless told you," said Dumbledore, "we heard Barry Crouch confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how he was smuggled out of Azkaban, and how Voldemort — learning of his continued existence from Bertha Jorkins — went to free him from his father and used him to capture Harry. The plan worked, I tell you. Crouch has helped Voldemort to return."

"See here, Dumbledore," said Fudge, and Alicia stared at him with anger and disbelief as she saw a slight smile dawning on his face, "you — you can't seriously believe that. You-Know-Who — back? Come now, come now… certainly, Crouch may have _believed_ himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who's orders — but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Dumbledore…"

"When Harry touched the Triwizard Cup tonight, he was transported straight to Voldemort," said Dumbledore steadily. "He witnessed Lord Voldemort's rebirth. I will explain it all to you if you will step up to my office."

Dumbledore glanced around at Harry and Alicia and saw that both were awake, but shook his head and said, "I am afraid I cannot permit you to question Harry tonight."

Fudge's curious smile lingered. He too glanced at Harry, then looked back at Dumbledore, and said, "You are — er — prepared to take Harry's word on this, are you, Dumbledore?"

There was a moment's silence, which was broken by Sirius growling. His hackles were raised, and he was baring his teeth at Fudge.

"Certainly, I believe Harry," said Dumbledore. His eyes were blazing now. "I heard Crouch's confession, and I heard Harry's account of what happened after he touched the Triwizard Cup; the two stories make sense, they explain everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."

Fudge still had that strange smile on his face. Once again, he glanced at Harry before answering.

"You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, and a boy who… well…"

Fudge shot Harry another look, and Harry suddenly understood as Alicia glared, she couldn't believe he'd believe that twat.

"You've been reading Rita Skeeter, Mr. Fudge," he said quietly.

Ron, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, and Bill all jumped. None of them had realised that Harry or Alicia were awake.

Fudge reddened slightly, but a defiant and obstinate look came over his face.

"And if I have?" he said, looking at Dumbledore. "If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about the boy very quiet? A Parselmouth, eh? And having funny turns all over the place —"

"I assume that you are referring to the pains Harry has been experiencing in his scar?" said Dumbledore coolly.

"You admit that he has been having these pains, then?" said Fudge quickly. "Headaches? Nightmares? Possibly — hallucinations?"

Everyone paused as Alicia moved calmly from her bed, ignoring Mrs Weasley who'd tried to prevent her from doing so and walked over to Fudge.

"Minister, I saw it too." She said strongly as she stood before him. Her face was set so strongly that Fudge took a small step backwards. "I left the stands this evening as anyone here could tell you," she indicated to Hermione, Ron, Bill and Mrs Weasley "As I was worried for Harry. He and I have a connection after all. I encountered Crouch disguised as Moody. He handed me a portkey and I was taken to the same place as Harry. We saw Voldemort rise back in a new body as he never really died in the first place. He said he'd taken measures to become immortal and that his Death Eaters knew of this. He fought Harry and Harry has a cut on the inside of his arm from it." she explained, her voice was rather steady and she kept her eyes on Fudge who seemed too surprised he was being addressed by a fourteen year old like this to interrupt. "Voldemort planned to kill us both then and there but using the Triwizard Cup that brought Harry we were able to escape, where Crouch took Harry to complete the deed of killing him." she said "Voldemort killed Bertha Jonkins, Crouch killed his father Barty Crouch, you can even ask Crouch's house elf of all this as she looked after Crouch's son for the last thirteen or so years." everyone was watching her with surprise, especially Harry who was surprised she could talk so calmly about all this. "If you checked Cedric Diggery's body you'd find the Killing Curse was used upon him, now how could that have happened in the maze? You can check mine and Harry's wands if you believe on of us would be capable of doing so, but as Krum and Fleur had both been removed from the maze by Crouch, Cedric and Harry were the only two contestants inside. Who else would have killed him for no apparent reason?" Dumbledore was looking at Alicia impressively

"Are you really going to stand there, and ignore every sign that Voldemort is back and allow him to go killing people and build his army all over again, risk people's lives and families, because you are frightened and cowardly? Not to mention because you are listening to the tales and stupidity of Rita Skeeter, I thought you of all people would know her stories are tall tales made up by her for attention. Why would someone make up a story such as this? It is not something that is to be taken lightly." she explained and now, as she'd insulted the minister of Magic, Fudge looked angrily at her.

"Now see here long lady…!" he began, the anger in his voice now, Alicia however did not falter or flinch as she stared at him hard.

"Listen to me, Cornelius," said Dumbledore interrupting, taking a step toward Fudge, and once again, he seemed to radiate that indefinable sense of power he had had after Dumbledore had Stunned young Crouch. "Harry is as sane as you or I. That scar upon his forehead has not addled his brains. I believe it hurts him when Lord Voldemort is close by, or feeling particularly murderous."

Fudge had taken half a step back from Dumbledore, but he looked no less stubborn.

"You'll forgive me, Dumbledore, but I've never heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell before…"

"Look, I saw Voldemort come back!" Harry shouted. He tried to get out of bed again, but Mrs. Weasley forced him back. "I saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy —"

Snape made a sudden movement, but as Harry looked at him, Snape's eyes flew back to Fudge.

"Malfoy was cleared!" said Fudge, visibly affronted. "A very old family — donations to excellent causes —"

"Probably to remove suspicion." Alicia said

"Macnair!" Harry continued.

"Also cleared! Now working for the Ministry!"

"Killing beasts instead of people." Alicia added watching Fudge

"Avery — Nott — Crabbe — Goyle —"

"You are merely repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago!" said Fudge angrily. "You could have found those names in old reports of the trials! For heaven's sake, Dumbledore — the boy was full of some crackpot story at the end of last year too — his tales are getting taller, and you're still swallowing them — the boy can talk to snakes, Dumbledore, and you still think he's trustworthy?"

"You're going to judge someone because he can talk to an animal? How stupid are you?" Alicia insulted, her anger building so much that Hermione came and placed her arms around Alicia and moved her a few steps back from the minister. Sirius had followed, believing Alicia was in need of comfort and she placed a hand on his head, knowing he was near helping her slightly.

"You fool!" Professor McGonagall cried. "Cedric Diggory! Mr. Crouch! These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic!"

"I see no evidence to the contrary!" shouted Fudge, now matching her anger, his face purpling. "It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilise everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!"

"Better panic than risk the destruction!" Alicia hissed

"Voldemort has returned," Dumbledore repeated. "If you accept that fact straightaway, Fudge, and take the necessary measures, we may still be able to save the situation. The first and most essential step is to remove Azkaban from the control of the dementors —"

"Preposterous!" shouted Fudge again. "Remove the dementors? I'd be kicked out of office for suggesting it! Half of us only feel safe in our beds at night because we know the dementors are standing guard at Azkaban!"

"The rest of us sleep less soundly in our beds, Cornelius, knowing that you have put Lord Voldemort's most dangerous supporters in the care of creatures who will join him the instant he asks them!" said Dumbledore. "They will not remain loyal to you, Fudge! Voldemort can offer them much more scope for their powers and their pleasures than you can! With the dementors behind him, and his old supporters returned to him, you will be hard-pressed to stop him regaining the sort of power he had thirteen years ago!"

Fudge was opening and closing his mouth as though no words could express his outrage.

"The second step you must take — and at once," Dumbledore pressed on, "is to send envoys to the giants."

"Envoys to the giants?" Fudge shrieked, finding his tongue again. "What madness is this?"

"Part of Voldemort's plans are to recruit the giants and powers he had before!" Alicia hissed "He told his Death Eaters so! He also plans to break open Azkaban to release those of his followers imprisoned there!"

"Extend them the hand of friendship, now, before it is too late," said Dumbledore, "or Voldemort will persuade them, as he did before, that he alone among wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!"

"You — you cannot be serious!" Fudge gasped, shaking his head and retreating further from Dumbledore. "If the magical community got wind that I had approached the giants — people hate them, Dumbledore — end of my career —"

"Who gives a shit about your career!" Alicia couldn't help but snap "We'd rather people lived than start dying again!"

"You are blinded," said Dumbledore, he didn't stop Alicia, he only ignored her as his voice rising now also, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognise that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! Your dementor has just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any — and see what that man chose to make of his life! I tell you now — take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act — and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild!"

"Insane," whispered Fudge, still backing away. "Mad…"

And then there was silence. Madam Pomfrey was standing frozen at the foot of Harry's bed, her hands over her mouth. Mrs. Weasley was still standing over Harry, her hand on his shoulder to prevent him from rising. Bill, Ron, and Hermione were staring at Fudge.

"If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, "we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I — I shall act as I see fit."

Dumbledore's voice carried no hint of a threat; it sounded like a mere statement, but Fudge bristled as though Dumbledore were advancing upon him with a wand.

"Now, see here, Dumbledore," he said, waving a threatening finger. "I've given you free rein, always. I've had a lot of respect for you. I might not have agreed with some of your decisions, but I've kept quiet. There aren't many who'd have let you hire werewolves, or keep Hagrid, or decide what to teach your students without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me —"

"The only one against whom I intend to work," said Dumbledore, "is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side."

It seemed Fudge could think of no answer to this. He rocked backward and forward on his small feet for a moment and spun his bowler hat in his hands. Finally, he said, with a hint of a plea in his voice, "He can't be back, Dumbledore, he just can't be…"

Snape strode forward, past Dumbledore, pulling up the left sleeve of his robes as he went, exposing the dark mark on his arm, black and prudent against his skin. He stuck out his forearm and showed it to Fudge, who recoiled.

"There," said Snape harshly. "There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it burned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side. This Mark has been growing clearer all year. Karkaroff's too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold."

Fudge stepped back from Snape too. He was shaking his head. He did not seem to have taken in a word Snape had said. He stared, apparently repelled by the ugly mark on Snape's arm, then looked up at Dumbledore and whispered, "I don't know what you and your staff are playing at, Dumbledore, but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry."

Alicia stared wide eyes as he moved to the door, having almost reached it before he paused. He turned around, strode back down the dormitory, and stopped at Harry's bed.

"Your winnings," he said shortly, taking a large bag of gold out of his pocket and dropping it onto Harry's bedside table. "One thousand Galleons. There should have been a presentation ceremony, but under the circumstances…"

He crammed his bowler hat onto his head and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The moment he had disappeared, Dumbledore turned to look at the group around Harry's bed.

"This is madness." Alicia whispered. She now feared everything would turn sour, maybe more so than it had the last time Voldemort had been in power, and that was something she'd only read about in books.

"There is work to be done," Dumbledore said. "Molly… am I right in thinking that I can count on you and Arthur?"

"Of course you can," said Mrs. Weasley. She was white to the lips, but she looked resolute. "We know what Fudge is. It's Arthur's fondness for Muggles that has held him back at the Ministry all these years. Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride."

"Then I need to send a message to Arthur," said Dumbledore. "All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and he is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as shortsighted as Cornelius."

"I'll go to Dad," said Bill, standing up. "I'll go now."

"Excellent," said Dumbledore. "Tell him what has happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He also must be informed of Alicia." Alicia looked at Dumbledore and everyone else who didn't know of he parentage looked confused

"It's alright Professor, Mr Weasley already knows." she admitted. Dumbledore looked at her before nodding

"He is to then notify them all. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry —"

"Leave it to me," said Bill.

He clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder, kissed his mother on the cheek, pulled on his cloak, gave Alicia a warm hug, and strode quickly from the room.

"Minerva," said Dumbledore, turning to Professor McGonagall, "I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also — if she will consent to come — Madame Maxime."

Professor McGonagall nodded and left without a word.

"Poppy," Dumbledore said to Madam Pomfrey, "would you be very kind and go down to Professor Moody's office, where I think you will find a house-elf called Winky in considerable distress? Do what you can for her, and take her back to the kitchens. I think Dobby will look after her for us."

"Very — very well," said Madam Pomfrey, looking startled, and she too left.

Dumbledore made sure that the door was closed, and that Madam Pomfrey's footsteps had died away, before he spoke again.

"And now," he said, "it is time for two of our number to recognise each other for what they are. Sirius… if you could resume your usual form."

The great black dog looked up at Dumbledore, then, in an instant, turned back into a man beside Alicia.

Mrs. Weasley screamed and leapt back from the bed.

"Sirius Black!" she shrieked, pointing at him.

"Mum, shut up!" Ron yelled. "It's okay!"

Sirius turned to Alicia and pulled her to him to comfort her. She smiled slightly but the anger and disbelief was still there.

Snape had not yelled or jumped backward, but the look on his face was one of mingled fury and horror. Alicia turned to Snape and Sirius did the same.

"Him!" he snarled, staring at Sirius, whose face showed equal dislike. "What is he doing here?"

"He is here at my invitation," said Dumbledore, looking between them, "as are you, Severus. I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other."

Alicia raised an eyebrow and looked between the two, Dumbledore was asking for a near miracle. Sirius and Snape were eyeing each other with the utmost loathing.

"I will settle, in the short term," said Dumbledore, with a bite of impatience in his voice, "for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth do not stand united, there is no hope for any of us."

Very slowly — but still glaring at each other as though each wished the other nothing but ill — Sirius and Snape moved toward each other and shook hands. They let go extremely quickly.

"That will do to be going on with," said Dumbledore, stepping between them once more. "Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher — the old crowd. Lie low at Lupins for a while; I will contact you there."

"But —" said Harry. Alicia bit her lip to stop herself from disagreeing as well. Like Harry she wanted Sirius to stay, she'd hardly spent much time with him, and most of it had not been pleasant. However the needs of the many outweighed hers so she kept her mouth shut, despite the dislike to do so.

"You'll see me very soon, Harry," said Sirius, turning to him. "I promise you. But I must do what I can, you understand, don't you?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah… of course I do." Sirius grasped Harry's hand briefly turned to Alicia and placed a hand on her face.

"I'll see you later." she nodded and he kissed her forehead, nodded to Dumbledore, transformed again into the black dog, and ran the length of the room to the door, whose handle he turned with a paw. Then he was gone.

"Severus," said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready… if you are prepared…"

"I am," said Snape.

He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered strangely.

"Then good luck," said Dumbledore, and he watched, with a trace of apprehension on his face, as Snape swept wordlessly after Sirius.

It was several minutes before Dumbledore spoke again.

"I must go downstairs," he said finally. "I must see the Diggorys. Harry — take the rest of your potion. I will see all of you later."

Harry slumped back against his pillows as Dumbledore disappeared. Hermione, Ron, and Mrs. Weasley were all looking at him. None of them spoke for a very long time.

"You've got to take the rest of your potion, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said at last. Her first movement was to usher Alicia back to her bed and force her down. Mrs Weasley's hand nudged the sack of gold on Harry's bedside cabinet as she reached for the bottle and the goblet. "You have a good long sleep. Try and think about something else for a while… think about what you're going to buy with your winnings!"

"I don't want that gold," said Harry in an expressionless voice. "You have it. Anyone can have it. I shouldn't have won it. It should've been Cedric's."

Alicia looked at him with a frown. And then she noticed his eyes, slightly more watery then they should have been. Against Mrs Weasley's wishes Alicia got up and sat next to Harry on his bed, pulling him into a hug.

"It wasn't your fault, Harry," Mrs. Weasley whispered.

"I told him to take the cup with me," said Harry.

"You couldn't have known." Alicia muttered.

Mrs Weasley put the potion down before she bent down and put her arms around Harry. Alicia, knowing her to be the mother she was, knew that Mrs Weasley would do a better job at comforting her brother and released him. She knew that Harry was barely able to contain his emotions, unlike Alicia who'd already let her's all out.

There was a loud slamming noise, and Mrs. Weasley and Harry broke apart. Hermione was standing by the window. She was holding something tight in her hand.

"Sorry," she whispered. Alicia noticed it to be a jar and smirked ever slightly, knowing there'd only be one reason for her actions.

"Your potion, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley quickly, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. "Alicia, you as well." She handed both twins their bottles and Alicia downed hers before she lied down with Harry and curled up against his side. Dreamless sleep over took her instantly, and she was more then happy to drift off and fall asleep.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36:

The next morning nothing had dampened but the dreamless sleep was more than Alicia had expected. At one point both Cedric's parents came in to talk to the two. Neither Alicia, and especially not Harry, found this at all enlightening. They did not blame Harry for what had happened; on the contrary, both thanked him for returning Cedric's body to them. Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of the interview. Mrs. Diggory's grief seemed to be beyond tears.

"He suffered very little then," she said, when Harry had told her how Cedric had died. "And after all, Amos… he died just when he'd won the tournament. He must have been happy."

When they got to their feet, she looked down at Harry and said, "You look after yourself, now."

Harry seized the sack of gold on the bedside table.

"You take this," he muttered to her. "It should've been Cedric's, he got there first, you take it —"

But she backed away from him.

"Oh no, it's yours, dear, I couldn't… you keep it."

Harry's attempt to rid of the gold was failing.

"I can't take it," Alicia rolled her eyes when Harry tried to force it on Alicia as well. "We're siblings, what's mines yours anyway."

* * *

Both twins returned to the Gryffindor Tower the following evening. From what Hermione and Ron told them, Dumbledore had spoken to the school that morning at breakfast. He had merely requested that they leave Alicia and Harry alone, that nobody ask him questions or badger him to tell the story of what had happened in the maze. Most people were skirting him in the corridors, avoiding Harry's eyes. Some whispered behind their hands as he passed. Harry had guessed that many of them had believed Rita Skeeter's article about how disturbed and possibly dangerous he was. Perhaps they were formulating their own theories about how Cedric had died. Despite this, Harry for once let none of it bother him. It was better when Alicia and Harry were with Ron and Hermione and they were talking about other things, or else letting Harry sit in silence while they played chess. Alicia had tried to move back into things, she talked lightly and answered when spoken too, she found her mind was distracted this way, which was much better then sitting alone in silence to listen to her own thoughts.

All four of them however had seemed to reach an understanding they didn't need to put into words; they didn't speak about what had happened and each was waiting for some sign, some word, of what was going on outside Hogwarts — and that it was useless to speculate about what might be coming until they knew anything for certain. The only time they touched upon the subject was when Ron told the twins about a meeting Mrs. Weasley had had with Dumbledore before going home.

"She went to ask him if you could both come straight to us this summer," he said. "But he wants you to go back to the Dursleys and that kid place, at least at first."

"Why?" said Harry as Alicia looked confused.

"She said Dumbledore's got his reasons," said Ron, shaking his head darkly. "I suppose we've got to trust him, haven't we?"

Alicia, who thought about this for a minute, assumed Dumbledore had some plan, probably to do with the missions Hagrid and Sirius were being sent on, after all Sirius was sent to gather 'the old crowd', something Alicia decided had to do with when Voldemort was last in power. Was there going to be some gathering over the summer? She hoped there would be, it would put some peace of mind to her. She also didn't want to spend two months sitting around doing nothing while she had an idea that Voldemort would be moving quickly to regain what he once had.

As there was no longer a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, they had those lessons free. They used the one on Thursday afternoon to go down and visit Hagrid in his cabin. It was a bright and sunny day; Fang bounded out of the open door as they approached, barking and wagging his tail madly.

"Who's that?" called Hagrid, coming to the door. " _Harry_!"

He strode out to meet them, pulled Harry into a one-armed hug, ruffled his hair, and said, "Good ter see yeh, mate. Good ter see yeh."

They saw two bucket-size cups and saucers on the wooden table in front of the fireplace when they entered Hagrid's cabin.

"Bin havin' a cuppa with Olympe," Hagrid said. "She's jus' left."

"Who?" said Ron curiously.

"Madame Maxime, o' course!" said Hagrid.

"You two made up, have you?" said Ron.

"Dunno what yeh're talkin' about," said Hagrid airily, fetching more cups from the dresser as Alicia rolled her eyes. When he had made tea and offered around a plate of doughy cookies, he leaned back in his chair and surveyed Harry and Alicia closely through his beetle-black eyes.

"You two all righ'?" he said gruffly.

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Getting there." Alicia sighed

"No, yeh're not," said Hagrid. " 'Course yeh're not. But yeh will be."

Harry said nothing.

"Knew he was goin' ter come back," said Hagrid, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up at him, shocked. Alicia however isn't surprised, after all Dumbledore had said something similar a while back. "Known it fer years, Harry. Knew he was out there, bidin' his time. It had ter happen. Well, now it has, an' we'll jus' have ter get on with it. We'll fight. Migh' be able ter stop him before he gets a good hold. That's Dumbledore's plan, anyway. Great man, Dumbledore. 'S long as we've got him, I'm not too worried."

Alicia smiled, it was a good point, after all, Dumbledore was the only one Voldemort was scared of. The other three however looked at them with disbelief and Hagrid raised his bushy eyebrows at them.

"No good sittin' worryin' abou' it," he said. "What's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does. Dumbledore told me wha' you two did, Harry, Alicia."

Hagrid's chest swelled as he looked at Harry.

"Yeh did as much as yer father would've done, an' I can' give yeh no higher praise than that."

Harry and Alicia smiled back at him. Though Alicia had tired her hardest to do so in the last few days, this was the first time she genuinely felt it.

"What's Dumbledore asked you to do, Hagrid?" Harry asked. "He sent Professor McGonagall to ask you and Madame Maxime to meet him — that night."

"Got a little job fer me over the summer," said Hagrid. "Secret, though. I'm not s'pposed ter talk abou' it, no, not even ter you lot. Olympe — Madame Maxime ter you — might be comin' with me. I think she will. Think I got her persuaded."

"Is it to do with Voldemort?"

Hagrid flinched at the sound of the name.

"Migh' be," he said evasively.

Alicia raised an eyebrow and then broke into a smile.

"What are you grinnin' about?" he asked her

"I think I have an idea of your secret mission, that's all." she smiled, she knew what Dumbledore's steps would be and Hagrid fit in with one of them perfectly. Hagrid smiled back at her.

"Yeh got a genius brain on yeh, you have Alicia." he said and she grinned at that.

"Now… who'd like ter come an' visit the las' skrewt with me? I was jokin' — jokin'!" he added hastily, seeing the looks on their faces.

Alicia hated to pack her bags the night before they were dew to get back on the Hogwarts express that world take them back to London and then her and Harry would be off to Surrey. She remembered how Mr Weasley had slipped up her relation to the Dursleys, she wondered if they remembered it? Either way, the world would probably soon know who she was.

Furthermore she wasn't, for the first time at Hogwarts, looking forward to the Leaving Feast. Usually this would be the most spectacular feast at Hogwarts, the Inter-House Champion Cup would be presented and the winner congratulated, in which Gryffindor had one the last three years, mostly thanks to Harry and Alicia's Quidditch skills and they're, along with Hermione and Ron's, constant saving of the school. This year however, Harry had been avoiding the Great Hall while at it's busiest, he waited for it to be practically empty. Alicia didn't blame him, as she'd been joining him in order to avoid all the stares and whispers that followed the two, this time worse than the past.

When Alicia, Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the Hall, they saw at once that the usual decorations were missing. The Great Hall was normally decorated with the winning House's colours for the Leaving Feast. Tonight, however, there were black drapes on the wall behind the teachers' table. Alicia frowned, knowing instantly that they were there as a mark of respect to Cedric.

The real Mad-Eye Moody was at the staff table now, his wooden leg and his magical eye back in place. He was extremely twitchy, jumping every time someone spoke to him. This seemed completely reasonable to Alicia, Moody's fear of attack was bound to have been increased by his ten-month imprisonment in his own trunk. Professor Karkaroff's chair was empty.

Madame Maxime was still there. She was sitting next to Hagrid. They were talking quietly together. Further along the table, sitting next to Professor McGonagall, was Snape. His eyes lingered on Harry for a moment as Harry looked at him. His expression was difficult to read. He looked as sour and unpleasant as ever. Harry continued to watch him, long after Snape had looked away.

Alicia knew what Harry's thoughts would be about, he was bound to be wondering what it was that Snape had done on Dumbledore's orders, the night that Voldemort had returned? Alicia remembered Voldemort's words, he believed Snape had turned against him… was Snape being forced to infiltrate Voldemort as a spy? After all, Dumbledore had said Snape had done so in the past. It seemed to Alicia that Dumbledore, though perhaps not liking the idea, might put someone in Voldemort's inner circle.

The Great Hall was much less noisy than it usually was at the Leaving Feast, and when Professor Dumbledore stood up, it became very quiet.

"The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year."

He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall.

"There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."

They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."

They all returned to their seat before the headmaster continued.

"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."

Alicia and Harry both stared at Dumbledore, Alicia with surprise.

"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."

A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence.

"The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore continued, "does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so — either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."

Stunned and frightened, every face in the Hall was turned toward Dumbledore now… or almost every face. Over at the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy muttering something to Crabbe and Goyle.

"There are two people who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore went on. "I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter."

A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads turned in Harry's direction before flicking back to face Dumbledore.

"But not only of him, but of someone who the world believed to be dead, a fellow classmate of yours who's been at this school for four years under a different last name, as protection." Hermione, Ron and Harry all looked at Alicia surprised as she looked at the table before her.

"Alicia Evans." The entire Hall began to to turn to her "The name Evans being her mother's maiden name. Under the family name she is Alicia Potter." the Hall erupted into whispers and several people were trying to get a good look at her, as though they hadn't seen her before. The Weasley twins look at her surprised and she gave them a slight grin with a wink. Ginny looked at her surprised also and Alicia turned to look at Harry and nudged him.

"Both Alicia and Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "They risked their own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. Both showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honour them both."

Dumbledore turned gravely to Harry and Alicia and raised his goblet once more. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall followed suit. They murmured their names, as they had murmured Cedric's, and drank to the twins. But through a gap in the standing figures, both noticed that Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and many of the other Slytherins had remained defiantly in their seats, their goblets untouched. Several were staring at Alicia with either disgust or surprise. She didn't care.

When everyone had once again resumed their seats, Dumbledore continued, "The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened — of Lord Voldemort's return — such ties are more important than ever before."

Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbatons students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the Slytherin table. Krum looked wary, almost frightened, as though he expected Dumbledore to say something harsh.

"Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again — in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.

"It is my belief — and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken — that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst.

"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

* * *

Alicia sat in her dorm room looking around at it all. She wasn't sure how she felt leaving it. Hermione had run down stairs to do something and Parvati and Lavender had already hauled their shoulder bags downstairs, leaving their trunks to be collected by — Alicia assumed — the house elves.

Leaving Hogwarts made her feel vulnerable, she may even be excluded from the world, unsure of what horrors Voldemort was beginning to spread behind everyone's backs. Dumbledore may have told everyone at Hogwarts the truth, but several parents might not believe it as Fudge hadn't said anything, as well as fear blinding them to the possibility as it had Fudge.

She didn't believe Dumbledore's speech would have made much move in his favour.

Noel hooted and Alicia smiled at the bird, sitting neatly in her cage beside the trunk. At least she would have communication with others, she'd send lots of letter to Ron, hoping for some news. She had her subscription for the _Daily Prophet_ which she expected to come even during the holidays.

Still, leaving Hogwarts worried her. She almost wanted to find Sirius and stay with him for the summer, at least then she might feel a bit more secured than in an orphanage full of vulnerable people.

The door to the dormitory opens and Hermione walked in, she saw Alicia and paused.

"Are you alright?" she wondered. Alicia took a deep breath and nodded.

"I'm fine."

"You packed?" Alicia looked at her full trunk and then looked around her, to see if she'd left something.

"I think so." she nodded, Hermione walked forwards and placed her arm around Alicia, pulling her into a hug.

"It's alright." she breathed

"Hopefully it will be," Alicia nodded "Just not sure if I want to go back to Surrey."

"You'll be alright, you have Harry after all."

"Yeah, I can see so many conversations happening there." Alicia said sarcastically, getting a chuckle out of Hermione.

"Did you know Dumbledore was going to tell everyone that?"

"He asked me about it while we were in the hospital wing." Alicia sighed "He said he might, not he would. I guess Fudge's reaction was the turning point."

"I can't believe he acted like that."

"Me either." Alicia said "But oh well, I doubt Voldemort can keep himself hidden enough for long."

Hermione and Alicia grabbed their bags, leaving their trunks and moving down to the entrance hall in order to catch a carriage back to Hogsmeade station. Harry and Ron joined the two not too long later as the fourth years filled the hall.

" 'Arry!"

The four turned to see Fleur Delacour hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Beyond her, far across the grounds, Hagrid was helping Madame Maxime back two of the giant horses into their harness. The Beauxbatons carriage was about to take off.

"We will see each uzzer again, I 'ope," said Fleur as she reached him, holding out her hand. "I am 'oping to get a job 'ere, to improve my Eenglish."

"It's very good already," said Ron in a strangled sort of voice. Fleur smiled at him; Hermione scowled. Alicia couldn't help but nudge her and she blushed before turning her nose to the air.

"Good-bye, 'Arry," said Fleur, turning to go. "It 'az been a pleasure meeting you!" And she hurried back across the lawns to Madame Maxime, her silvery hair rippling in the sunlight.

"Wonder how the Durmstrang students are getting back," said Ron. "D'you reckon they can steer that ship without Karkaroff?"

"Karkaroff did not steer," said a gruff voice. "He stayed in his cabin and let us do the vork."

Krum had come to say good-bye to Hermione.

"Could I have a vord?" he asked her.

"Oh… yes… all right," said Hermione, looking slightly flustered, and following Krum through the crowd and out of sight.

"You'd better hurry up!" Ron called loudly after her. "The carriages'll be here in a minute!"

Alicia rolled her eyes and leaned to Harry

"How long do you think it'll be before they finally get together?" she whispered, Harry raised an eyebrow to her. "Don't you dare tell me you haven't noticed?" she said harshly. Harry just turned away, trying not to shrug as Alicia rolled her eyes with a slight smile.

Ron let Harry keep a watch for the carriages, and spent the next few minutes craning his neck over the crowd, despite what he'd said, to try and see what Krum and Hermione might be up to. They returned quite soon. Ron stared at Hermione, but her face was quite impassive.

"I liked Diggory," said Krum abruptly to Harry. "He vos alvays polite to me. Alvays. Even though I vos from Durmstrang — with Karkaroff," he added, scowling.

"You can't choose your headmaster." Alicia assured him with a smile

"Have you got a new headmaster yet?" said Harry.

Krum shrugged. He held out his hand as Fleur had done, shook Harry's hand, then Alicia's and then Ron's. Ron looked as though he was suffering some sort of painful internal struggle. Krum had already started walking away when Ron burst out, "Can I have your autograph?"

Hermione turned away, smiling as Alicia bursted out laughing

"Only took you all year." she told Ron as the horseless carriages were now trundling toward them up the drive, while Krum, looking surprised but gratified, signed a fragment of parchment for Ron.

* * *

The weather could not have been more different on the journey back to King's Cross than it had been on their way to Hogwarts the previous September. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione had managed to get a compartment to themselves. Pigwidgeon was once again hidden under Ron's dress robes to stop him from hooting continually; Hedwig was dozing, her head under her wing, Noel was watching the four, and Crookshanks was curled up in a spare seat like a large, furry ginger cushion. Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione talked more fully and freely than they had all week as the train sped them southward. Harry seemed more open than before, as though Dumbledore's speech at the Leaving Feast had unblocked him, somehow. He was able to talk about what happened more easily now. They broke off their conversation about what action Dumbledore might be taking, even now, to stop Voldemort only when the lunch trolley arrived.

When Hermione returned from the trolley and put her money back into her schoolbag, she dislodged a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ that she had been carrying in there. Harry looked at it, unsure whether he really wanted to know what it might say, but Hermione, seeing him looking at it, said calmly, "There's nothing in there. You can look for yourself, but there's nothing at all. I've been checking every day. Just a small piece the day after the third task saying you won the tournament. They didn't even mention Cedric. Nothing about any of it. If you ask me, Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet."

"Doesn't surprise me, he doesn't believe it himself. He doesn't want the panic." Alicia sighed

"He'll never keep Rita quiet," said Harry. "Not on a story like this."

Alicia chuckled and looked at Hermione.

"Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task," said Hermione in an oddly constrained voice. "As a matter of fact," she added, her voice now trembling slightly, "Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on _her._ "

Ron and Harry looked at Hermione as Alicia laughed.

"Serves her right getting under your skin." she exclaimed

"What are you talking about?" said Ron.

"I found out how she was listening in on private conversations when she wasn't supposed to be coming onto the grounds," said Hermione in a rush. It seemed as though Hermione had been dying to tell the boys for the last few days.

"How was she doing it?" said Harry at once.

"How did you find out?" said Ron, staring at her.

"Well, it was you, really, who gave me the idea, Harry," she said. "Well that and Alicia." she smiled at the girl who shrugged

"Did I?" said Harry, perplexed. "How?"

" _Bugging,_ " said Hermione happily.

"But you said they didn't work —"

"Oh not _electronic_ bugs," said Hermione. Alicia laughed

"No. Do you remember what I said?" Alicia asked

"Yeah you said she could be an animagus." Harry nodded

"Alicia was right." Hermione admitted "You see… Rita Skeeter" — Hermione's voice trembled with quiet triumph — "is an unregistered Animagus. She can turn —"

Hermione pulled a small sealed glass jar out of her bag.

"— into a beetle."

"You're kidding," said Ron as Alicia snickered. "You haven't… she's not…"

"Oh yes she is," said Hermione happily, brandishing the jar at them.

Inside were a few twigs and leaves and one large, fat beetle.

"That's never — you're kidding —" Ron whispered, lifting the jar to his eyes.

"Don't you remember when she slammed the jar on the window sill in the hospital wing?" Alicia asked

"You knew?" Harry asked and Alicia raised an eyebrow

"Are you forgetting who I am dear brother?" she asked and Harry rolled his own eyes.

"Look very closely," Hermione said beaming "and you'll notice the markings around her antennae are exactly like those foul glasses she wears."

Harry looked and saw that she was quite right. He also remembered something.

"There was a beetle on the statue the night we heard Hagrid telling Madame Maxime about his mum! You asked me about that," he said to his sister

"Well remembered." Alicia nodded

"Exactly," said Hermione. "And Viktor pulled a beetle out of my hair after we'd had our conversation by the lake. And unless I'm very much mistaken, Rita was perched on the windowsill of the Divination class the day your scar hurt. She's been buzzing around for stories all year."

"When we saw Malfoy under that tree…" said Ron slowly.

"He was talking to her, in his hand," said Hermione. "He knew, of course. That's how she's been getting all those nice little interviews with the Slytherins. They wouldn't care that she was doing something illegal, as long as they were giving her horrible stuff about us and Hagrid."

Hermione took the glass jar back from Ron and smiled at the beetle, which buzzed angrily against the glass.

"I've told her I'll let her out when we get back to London," said Hermione. "I've put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, you see, so she can't transform. And I've told her she's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people."

"She did let herself get caught. It's her own fault for her carelessness." Alicia shrugged

"Only around you two." Ron admitted and the girls shared a grin.

Smiling serenely, Hermione placed the beetle back inside her schoolbag.

The door of the compartment slid open.

"Very clever, Granger," said Draco Malfoy.

Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him. All three of them looked more pleased with themselves, more arrogant and more menacing, than any of them had ever seen them.

"So," said Malfoy slowly, advancing slightly into the compartment and looking slowly around at them, a smirk quivering on his lips. "You caught some pathetic reporter, and Potter and Evan's, sorry, both Potter's are Dumbledore's favourite again. Big deal." Alicia rolled her eyes tiredly.

His smirk widened. Crabbe and Goyle leered.

"Trying not to think about it, are we?" said Malfoy softly, looking around at all three of them. "Trying to pretend it hasn't happened?"

"Get out," said Harry.

He had not been this close to Malfoy since he had watched him muttering to Crabbe and Goyle during Dumbledore's speech about Cedric.

"You've picked the losing side, Potter! I warned you! I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this!" He jerked his head at Ron and Hermione. "Too late now, Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well — second — Diggory was the f —"

It was as though someone had exploded a box of fireworks within the compartment. Blinded by the blaze of the spells that had blasted from every direction, deafened by a series of bangs, everyone turned and looked at the door.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious in the doorway. Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione were on their feet, all four of them having used a different hex. Nor were they the only ones to have done so.

"Thought we'd see what those three were up to," said Fred matter-of-factly, stepping onto Goyle and into the compartment. He had his wand out, and so did George, who was careful to tread on Malfoy as he followed Fred inside.

"Interesting effect," said George, looking down at Crabbe. "Who used the Furnunculus Curse?"

"Me," said Harry.

"Odd," said George lightly. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face.

"Well we know that for the future." Alicia smiled at the boys.

"Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the decor." George decided with a nod in which Alicia returned. She flicked her wand and the three boys hovered into the air and then out the door into the corridor. Fred then shut the door.

"Good job Potter." he smiled at her. She grinned

"I can't believe you didn't tell us." George admitted

"You never asked."

"We asked who the twins were." Fred reminded her

"I thought you'd figure it out. Where's the fun in giving you all the answers?" Alicia wondered, having the twins roll their eyes.

"Exploding Snap, anyone?" said Fred, pulling out a pack of cards.

While playing there was a tap on the compartment door and the group all turned to find Anthony at the doorway. He was looking at Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle curiously and Alicia chuckled

"Don't ask." she assured "What's up?"

"Just wondered if I could have a word." Anthony muttered and the boys all looked at the black haired girl as she nodded.

Alicia got from her seat and followed the boy down the hallway a little before he turned to her.

"So…"

"You want to know if what Dumbledore said was true?" she asked

"A lot of people do. I know you probably don't want to talk about what happened that night… but, I did want to ask if you really were a Potter? The lost, assumed dead, Potter?"

"I am. According to Dumbledore, and the fact that I have the same memories as Harry… the Ministry knows too but."

"Why'd they lie to everyone about you being dead?" Anthony wondered

"They believed it was better for me, kept me safe you know, from all of Voldemort's followers." Anthony flinched at the name and Alicia apologised."Of course he himself knew I was alive and now… with everything that happened…" Alicia dropped her gaze "Dumbledore thought it would be safer for me if people knew." she explained

"I guess that's one reason for Potter not asking you to the ball." Anthony smiled

"Yeah, would have been weird to us." She shrugged smiling herself. Anthony nodded and he lowered his gaze before looking back at her

"So, I was sort of hoping you and I… that we'd write to each other over the holidays?"Anthony asked.

"I don't see why I can't…" Alicia admitted "I don't know what's going to happen over the summer… especially now that…" she paused and Anthony pursed his lips "Never mind. The Minister of Magic doesn't believe us and I wouldn't be surprised if others chose not to as well." she said snorting annoyed

"It might be more that people don't want to believe…"

"And I can definitely understand that. I so hope I could be one of them but…" Alicia sighed "Knowledge is power and anyone who ignores it is just vulnerable." she believed and peaked back at Anthony as he looked out the window beside them past the speeding train. "D-Do you believe us?" she asked nervously

"I don't want to." he said lightly, chuckling ever so slightly "But if Dumbledore… and after Cedric…" he paused "And you do look rather like Harry plus no one can really deny your heritage…"

"But do you believe me?" Alicia said cutting him off again, as he hadn't really given her a straight answer. Anthony looked at her and then started nodding.

"Yeah… I think so." Alicia smiled

"Thank you. It means a lot." Anthony nodded as he smiled at her.

Alicia returned to the compartment and ignored the twins as they grinned at her. The lot of them were playing exploding snap, chuckling lightly as Alicia retook her seat and joined in with everyone.

They were halfway through their fifth game when Harry decided to ask them.

"You going to tell us, then?" he said to George. "Who you were blackmailing?"

"Oh," said George darkly. " _That._ "

"It doesn't matter," said Fred, shaking his head impatiently. "It wasn't anything important. Not now, anyway."

"We've given up," said George, shrugging. But Harry, Ron, and Hermione kept on asking, so Alicia sighed.

"Was it Ludo Bagman?" she asked and everyone looked at her.

"How'd you know?" Fred asked

"I assumed it had something to do with the bet you had. As far as I'm aware you haven't had any dealings with anyone else. And I'd only be wrong if you were trying to get your little Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes produced. Then I remembered how he seemed to be avoiding you both and you asked me where my third of the gold had gone before we even left your house. No other explanation really." she explained, the twins just grinned at her and she looked very proud of herself.

"Bagman?" said Harry sharply. "Are you saying he was involved in —"

"Nah," said George gloomily. "Nothing like that. Stupid git. He wouldn't have the brains."

"Well, what, then?" said Ron.

Fred hesitated, then said, "You remember that bet we had with him at the Quidditch World Cup? About how Ireland would win, but Krum would get the Snitch?"

"Yeah," said Harry and Ron slowly.

"Well, the git paid us in leprechaun gold he'd caught from the Irish mascots."

"So?"

"So," said Fred impatiently, "it vanished, didn't it? By next morning, it had gone!"

"But — it must've been an accident, mustn't it?" said Hermione. George laughed very bitterly.

"Yeah, that's what we thought, at first. We thought if we just wrote to him, and told him he'd made a mistake, he'd cough up. But nothing doing. Ignored our letter. We kept trying to talk to him about it at Hogwarts, but he was always making some excuse to get away from us."

"In the end, he turned pretty nasty," said Fred. "Told us we were too young to gamble, and he wasn't giving us anything."

"So we asked for our money back," said George glowering.

"He didn't refuse!" gasped Hermione.

"Right in one," said Fred.

"But that was all your savings!" said Ron.

"Tell me about it," said George. "'Course, we found out what was going on in the end. Lee Jordan's dad had had a bit of trouble getting money off Bagman as well. Turns out he's in big trouble with the goblins. Borrowed loads of gold off them. A gang of them cornered him in the woods after the World Cup and took all the gold he had, and it still wasn't enough to cover all his debts."

"That explains why he was so out of it in the forest and why he looked so skittish." Alicia said to them and the twins nodded.

"They followed him all the way to Hogwarts to keep an eye on him. He's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two Galleons to rub together. And you know how the idiot tried to pay the goblins back?"

"How?" said Harry.

"He put a bet on you, mate," said Fred. "Put a big bet on you to win the tournament. Bet against the goblins."

"So _that's_ why he kept trying to help me win!" said Harry. "Well — I did win, didn't I? So he can pay you your gold!"

"Nope," said George, shaking his head. "The goblins play as dirty as him. They say you drew with Diggory, and Bagman was betting you'd win outright. So Bagman had to run for it. He did run for it right after the third task."

George sighed deeply and started dealing out the cards again.

Alicia looked at Harry and he caught her eye, raising and eyebrow at her questionably. She looked at the twins and leaned towards Harry as they played exploding snap.

"The twins are in need of money…" she hinted and Harry's eyebrows knitted together before they shot up in realisation. She nodded "You want to get rid of it?" she nodded her head to them.

She smirked and Harry smiled.

The rest of the journey passed pleasantly enough, and all too soon, the Hogwarts Express was pulling in at platform nine and three-quarters. The usual confusion and noise filled the corridors as the students began to disembark. Ron and Hermione struggled out past Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, carrying their trunks. Alicia pretended to be pulling hers down and checking over it as Harry, stayed put.

"Fred — George — wait a moment."

The twins turned. Harry pulled open his trunk and drew out his Triwizard winnings.

"Take it," he said, and he thrust the sack into George's hands.

"What?" said Fred, looking flabbergasted.

"Take it," Harry repeated firmly. "I don't want it."

"You're mental," said George, trying to push it back at Harry.

"No, I'm not," said Harry. "You take it, and get inventing. It's for the joke shop."

"He _is_ mental," Fred said in an almost awed voice.

"Listen," said Harry firmly. "If you don't take it, I'm throwing it down the drain. I don't want it and I don't need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long."

"Harry," said George weakly, weighing the money bag in his hands, "there's got to be a thousand Galleons in here."

"There is a thousand galleons in there." Alicia said simply turning to them "It's the prize money from the tournament."

"Why don't you take it?" George asked holding it to her, but Alicia rolled her eyes

"He's my brother, what's mine is his, he wouldn't be getting rid of it." she said simple

"A thousand Galleons…" Fred muttered

"Yeah," said Harry, grinning. "Think how many Canary Creams that is."

The twins stared at him.

"Just don't tell your mum where you got it…"

"Probably murder us…" Alicia muttered to Harry

"Although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it…"

"Harry," Fred began, but Harry pulled out his wand.

"Look," he said flatly, "take it, or I'll hex you. I know some good ones now. Just do me one favour, okay? Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they're from you."

He left the compartment before they could say another word, stepping over Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were still lying on the floor, covered in hex marks.

"Do me the favour and take it." Alicia sighed "He feels guilty having it, because he thinks it should be Cedric's, but Cedric's parents wouldn't take it." she shrugged "We've got a fortune between the two of us after all, and you guys only have a year left, should be enough to get you going."

"Alicia,"

"You can't give it back now, he's left you with it." she grinned

"Of all the people to give it to though…" George muttered

"Well you'll put it to good use wont you?" she asked and the twins smiled at her. She clapped them both on the shoulder and George pocketed the money. "Now, help me with my stuff." and they rolled their eyes at her.

Uncle Vernon was waiting beyond the barrier, Mr Bane not far from him and Mrs. Weasley was close by them both. She hugged both Alicia and Harry very tightly when she saw them and whispered in Harry's ear, "I think Dumbledore will let you come to us later in the summer. Keep in touch, Harry."

"See you, Harry," said Ron, clapping him on the back. Alicia gave him a high five.

"See ya Ron," she smiled

"'Bye, Harry!" said Hermione, and she did something she had never done before, and kissed him on the cheek. She then pulled Alicia into a big hug

"Bye, Alicia."

"Till next time Hermione." she smiled

"Harry — thanks," George muttered, while Fred nodded fervently at his side.

"Anytime." Alicia said and both twins hugged her at once.

Harry winked at them, and Alicia took his hand to pull them over to Ms Bane.

"Have a good year?" she asked them, both sighed

"There were some highlights we could have gone with never seeing." Alicia admitted and Ms Bane looked at them both confused before Alicia pulled Harry into a hug.

"See you tomorrow?" she asked and Harry nodded, he hugged her again, almost as though he worried he wouldn't see her again before he turned to Uncle Vernon, and followed him silently from the station.

Alicia sighed and looked at Ms Bane.

"Are you alright?" she wondered concerned

"I should be." she muttered "Harry and I short of experienced something rather unpleasant at the end of the year." she admitted and Ms Bane placed an arm around her shoulder as she escorted her out of the station.

"Don't worry, what ever it is, it'll get better." she assured

"I hope so." Alicia mumbled, but she remembered what Hagrid had said, "what would come, would come… and nothing could stop that", so she'd just have to meet it when it did. After all, as long as she had Harry, she could make it through anything.

* * *

 **So, I'm currently working on the fifth book, just after Umbridge's torture part. I need to add a few Anthony/Alicia bits in as I did that as I reread through this book.**

 **I want to ask you all what you all think about Anthony and Alicia? And who you'd like to see her with in the long term. Should I take a character of JK Rowling's, create another or…? And how should I go about it? I love hearing other people's opinions and they inspire me, giving me ideas.**

 **Let me know what you guys think, please!**

 **Hope you liked the fourth book.**


	37. Author's Note

**Hey all!**

 **Finally, I have finished the fifth book, Order of the Phoenix.**

 **Thank you for those who answered my questions on reviews and gave me their opinions, it really helped me get through the story!**

 **The Next book is _An Unbreakable Bond Suffers._**

 ** _I hope you like it!_**

 ** _xx_**


End file.
